


You stole a BABY?!

by genericfanatic



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: I'm not writing actual ACTS of child abuse, M/M, References to Child Abuse, just the after effects and some discussion of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-10 10:58:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7842241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genericfanatic/pseuds/genericfanatic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The castle ship has a new stowaway, and Keith and Lance must figure out how to take care of them without alerting the rest of the crew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lulu

Lance lay back on the couch, “I think I’ll sleep for a week.” 

Hunk sat by his head and held a juice box over him. “If you sleep, you don’t get juice.”

Lance grabbed up at it, only for Hunk to pull it out of his reach. Lance frowned, “Hunk, buddy, my friend, please have mercy. I haven’t had a proper meal in days.”

Hunk finally relented and gave Lance the juice. “None of us have, Lance,” He said, sipping on his own juicebox.

At that point, Shiro entered, and despite having been awake and fighting as long as everyone else, looked about just as energetic as usual. Lance suspected it was because he hardly slept anyway. Still, despite that depressing thought, he was jealous of Shiro’s ability to move. “Well, it seems like the Kilvarin army has their defenses properly upgraded, and they have officially taken over protection for this region. No Galra will be getting through here anytime soon.”

“Good for the Cthulu people.” Due to their face tentacles and weird bat wings, Lance had taken to calling the Kilvarin’s ‘Cthulu people,’ a nickname Shiro fully disapproved of. 

“Lance, we talked about—“

“I know, I know, but none of them are here, are they?” Lance said, sucking as much juice as he could muster through his straw. 

Shiro was about to argue, when Keith entered. “How long until we get out of here?” Keith asked. 

Shiro shrugged. “Allura and Coran are going over the map now to see where our next destination should be.”

“Good thing about the Galran Empire,” Hunk said, “You swing a dead cat in space and your likely to hit one of their ships. We’ve got plenty of targets to choose from.”

Lance smirked. “More like if you swing a Lion in space, am I right?” He held up his hand for a high five, which Hunk reluctantly granted him. 

Keith huffed, crossing his arms and biting his lip. “Lance, I need your help with something.”

Lance threw the empty juice box on the floor and draped himself on the couch again, “That’s gonna have to be a negative, Keith. I’m too tired.” Hunk picked up the juice box.

Keith rolled his eyes. “NOW Lance!” Shiro and Hunk exchanged confused looks. Keith swallowed his anger, trying not to seem as noticibly irritated. “You’re better at this particular task than I am.”

Lance’s eye twitched. “You’re just using my competitive nature to bait me, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Keith said, unabashedly. “Is it working?”

Lance paused. He really was tired, but…”yes.” He got up off the couch to follow Keith.

Keith led him back to the sleeping quarters. “So, what is this thing that the great Keith needs my help with?”

Keith wasn’t looking at him. Instead, he picked up his pace, making Lance half-jog to keep up. “I’ll explain when we get there.”

Lance raised an eyebrow. Damn Keith, always having to be weird and mysterious. “Okay. And where is ‘there’?” 

“My room.” For a second, Keith dropped the mysterious demeanor and looked back at Lance. “You…you have a lot of kids in your family, don’t you?”

Alright, if Lance was confused before, it was nothing compared to now. “y-yeah?”

Keith nodded. “And you like, had to care for them and stuff, right.”

“Some of the time. Since when are you interested in my home life?”

Keith chewed on his bottom lip, his demeanor falling from mysterious to worried with each passing tick. He stayed silent until they reached his door. “Just—just come inside.” 

He opened the door and let Lance in. Lance gaped at what he saw.

Sitting on Keith’s bed was a small Kilvarian. Well, a child Kilvarian, or so Lance thought. Most of the ones he had seen had been at least 8 feet, while this one came up to his waist. 

Lance grabbed Keith’s shoulder and turned them both away from the child. “You stole a baby?!” he shout-whispered. 

Keith winced. “Okay, first off, they’re not a baby. They’re a child. Second, I didn’t STEAL them. They asked me to take them with me.”

Lance raised an eyebrow at him. “He ASKED you?”

Keith shrugged. “It’s ‘they’, the Kilvarian don’t have gender, didn’t you hear Coran—“

“Keith.”

Keith swallowed, “Okay, they didn’t tell me, or, not with words, exactly.”

“Okay,” Lance said, “How EXACTLY did they ask you?”

Keith sighed, resigned. The Kilvarian child came up and hugged Keith’s knees. Keith patted their head. “They followed me, right up to Red. I told them they had to go back, back to their family. And they looked at me…terrified. They’re scared of their own family, I couldn’t send them back.” Keith looked a little guilty. “I didn’t know what else to do. So I took them with me.”

Lance frowned and pinched his brow, “Keith, they could have been scared of any number of things. They had GALRA on their planet not long ago. You can’t be sure they were scared of their family—“

“I’m sure.” Keith interrupted. “It’s—It’s hard to explain. But I recognized the look in their eyes. I knew they couldn’t stay there.” Lance looked between Keith and the child. He wanted to ask where Keith recognized the look from…but then realized he didn’t want the answer. Not right now, anyway. “Look,” Keith continued, “Allura and Coran will make me turn the child over, if they knew. And Shiro would be oblidged to tell them. Please, I’m asking—begging. I’m begging you not to tell them.

Lance looked down at the child. They also seemed to be silently begging. If Lance had a weakness, it was for children. Sighing, he nodded. Keith smiled. “Thanks,” Then he looked down at the kid as well, “Do you, I mean, what do you do with kids?”

“Well, you start by not talking about them like they’re pets.” Lance squatted down until he was eye level with the child. “My name is Lance, do you understand me?”

The Kilvarian raised a tentacle. “Oh,” Keith said, “They don’t…they don’t speak, as far as I can figure out. So far we’ve got the system of one tentacle for yes, two for no.”

Lance nodded, “Alright then.” He turned to the child. “We’re gonna need to call you something other than Kilvarian or kid. Can I give you a name? Just until you can tell us yourself?” The kid raised one tentacle again. How about…Lulu?”

“Lulu?” Keith repeated.

Lance shrugged, “They look like a Lulu.” He refused to mention the similarity of the name to the word ‘Cthulu.’ Lulu raised a tentacle. Lance sighed, “Well, that’s one problem solved, Lulu. I’m not quite sure what we’re going to do with you, but we’ll come up with something. You’re safe here, with Keith.”

“What?” Keith said, “you’re not going to take them with you?”

Lance looked up at him. “What, you thought you were going to dump a kid on me and be done with it?”

“No!” Keith said, “it’s just…I don’t know anything about how to deal with kids.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Well, Lulu likes you, don’t you Lulu?” Lulu raised a tentacle and held Keith’s leg a little tighter. “So, I guess you’ll have to LEARN about kids, daddy.”

Keith scowled at him, “Never call me that again.” 

“Yeah, good call.” Lance said, regretting the words. “First off, come down here. Even a shorty like you is a mountain compared to Lulu.”

Keith muttered something about ‘barely an inch shorter’ but he kneeled down beside Lance and Lulu. Lance smiled, “It’s good to be on the same level as her. That way it’s easier to talk to us, isn’t it Lulu?” Lulu raised a tentacle again. Lance took a deep breath. “Lulu, I’m going to have to ask you some questions, alright?” Lulu signed yes. “Keith says you were scared of going back, was he right?” Lulu looked uncomfortable for a moment, then raised a tentacle. “Did your family hurt you?”

“Lance,” Keith said, shaking his head to get him to stop talking.

“If they’re hurt, they could need medicine.” Lance said. Keith still frowned, but stayed quiet. Slowly, Lulu lifted their…well, on a human it would be a shirt. Or a dress. Lance wasn’t sure. Their garment. Underneath, her green skin was puckered, and there were dark green welts. He wasn’t sure about much of Kilvarian anatomy, but that didn’t look right. He inhaled sharply. “Alright, thank you.” She let the garment fall again. He looked over to Keith, “I’m going to get some medicine and food for her. For us too. And we’ll need to come up with a plan.”

Keith nodded. “What, what should I do?”

Lance got up, “talk to them.”

“About what?” The whole point of bringing Lance along was because he didn’t know how to deal with kids. 

Lance shrugged. “Ask them,” and left.

Keith turned to Lulu. “So…” He said, “what, uh, what do you like to do?” Lulu didn’t respond. They could only answer yes or no questions. Right. And he was supposed to hold a conversation like this how?

Lulu sensed his confusion and made a gurgling noise. Keith frowned at them. They made the noise again. “Are you…laughing at me?”

Lulu stopped gurgling, and put their webbed hands over their face, shaking slightly in fear. “No, no,” Keith said, lightly touching their hand, trying to make sure they were okay, “It’s not a bad thing, I’m just…sorry, I have trouble enough understanding people of my own species. It’s gotten me in trouble a lot.” He sighed. “I guess my confusion is kinda funny. Don’t tell Lance that.”

There was another gurgling, softer than last time. Keith was sure that was a laugh now. Then, Lulu reached out to grab his hair. “You like that?” He asked. One tentacle fluttered up. “Guess you’re not used to hair where you’re from. You should definitely tell Lance how much you like my hair, it’ll drive him bonkers.”

They started playing with it, grabbing fistfuls and separating the strands. “That…actually feels kind of nice.” Lulu made a gurgling noise, and Keith found himself laughing. 

 

Lance found the rest of the team in the dining room. “We’re moving away from the Kilvaria?” He asked Allura as she ate. The sooner they were away from Lulu’s horrid family the better. 

Allura nodded, swallowing her goo. “We’re not taking a wormhole, though, not unless it’s necessary. There’s a Galra bas not far from here, we’ll take it down and look for any distress calls to respond to.” 

Lance nodded, grabbing a couple of plates and filling them up as high as they could go with goo. “Feeling hungry?” Hunk asked him.

He smiled, thinking quickly. “Half is for Keith. He’s, um, busy.”

“With what?” Pidge asked.

“Secret project,” Lance said, hoping they’d stop asking him things.

“Is this project what he asked for your help on?” Shiro asked.

“Yup!” Lance said, “so, we’ll be busy most of the night, don’t wait up.” He finished up the second plate and turned off the goo machine. He heard Pidge mutter something to Hunk, and the both of them laugh. He decided he didn’t want to know. “Hey Coran,” he said, “where do you keep those little medicine gel things?”

That was the wrong thing to say. Shiro immediately sat up, “Are you hurt?”

“No! No, no.” Lance swallowed, “No, I um, need them. For the project.”

Shiro frowned, “What kind of project is this?” Great. His full Dad-leader mode was activated. 

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret!” Lance said, hoping they’d leave it at that. “Uh, Coran?”

“Uh, yes, right.” Coran said, wiping excess goo out of his mustache. “I’ll show you where we keep the medicine gel.”

Lance followed him out the door to the control room. He was struck with inspiration. “Hey, Coran,” he said, “you guys, like, traded information with the Kilvarians, right? As part of our Voltron peace treatment alliance thing?”

Coran raised a bushy eyebrow at him. “Yes, that is standard procedure. We do it with all the cultures we encounter.”

Lance nodded, “Would it be possible for me to look at the information they gave us? Just for like…curiosity’s sake?”

Coran smiled, “Absolutely! It’s all in the ships data files, I encourage you to learn more about all th species we’ve encountered and more, It’s nice to see you’re interested in diplomacy and—“

“Thanks, Coran,” Coran dug out a plastic bag with some of the medicine goo in it. As he was holding two plates full of food, Lance grabbed it with his teeth, “You’re a lifesaver” he said, his voice muffled by the bag. Without another word, he made his way back to Keith’s room.


	2. Secret Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance tries to make plans to stay on top of the situation, which brings about unexpected results.

It was a little odd watching Lulu eat, grabbing tentacles-full of the goop and bringing it to what must have been her mouth, like an elephant with a trunk. Lance smiled at her, seeming to enjoy the goo, more than he ever had, anyway. “Keith,” He said, and nodded at the door. 

Keith nodded, “Lulu? We’re gonna be right back, okay?” Lulu lifted a tentacle, continuing to eat every last morsel off the plate. Keith and Lance stepped out into the empty hallway. 

Lance sighed, keeping his voice low. “We need to get a plan here. We can’t just keep a kid holed up in your room forever.”

“I know,” Keith said, “But what are we going to do? We don’t exactly have a load of places to drop off a kid.” 

Lance looks around the corner, checking and double and checking that no one was coming down the hall. “Coran said we have the records of all the aliens we’ve come across. I think we should dig through those, see if we can find anything like an orphanage or something that might accept them.” 

Keith winced, “An orphanage? I don’t know…” 

Lance tapped his arm, staring down at Keith, trying to read him, which was a nearly impossible task. “Alright, spill.”

Keith raised an eyebrow, “What?”

“You’ve been acting weird, and I would like to understand why.” Lance said, crossing his arms.

Keith frowned, crossing his own arms, and looking away from Lance. “I don’t—I don’t have to tell you anything.”

Lance sighs, “No, you don’t. But lets look at a list of things you’ve done today: You’ve kidnapped a child…and that’s it, that’s really all I need to question your actions.” Keith still didn’t look at him. “You really don’t have to tell me, but I think knowing where you’re coming from here would be really help—“

“Fine.” Keith said. “Foster dad hit me. Okay? Happy now?”

Lance faltered. He tried to make eye contact, but Keith wasn’t having it. “Keith…”

“It’s fine.” Keith said, “Look, it’s not all that uncommon a story, alright? I got out of there. I was luckier than a lot of kids.” Keith dared look up at Lance, his face hard, while Lance’s was full of sympathy and kindness. Keith shook his head. “I just…orphanages might not be the best thing.”

Lance bit his lip, for once struck practically speechless. “Okay,” He said, “We’ll look at options though. I promise we won’t let anything bad happen to Lulu.” Keith nodded. Lance chewed his cheek. “You know we can’t keep her here, right? That’s not an option.”

“I know,” Keith says, quietly.

Lance isn’t sure if he believes him. “This place is fancy and it’s actually a really nice ship, but this is a warship. There’s no place for kids.”

“I KNOW!” Keith says more forcefully, “God, I barely know anything about kids, I’m not about to adopt one.”

“Alright, alright,” Lance says, putting up his hands in surrender. “Lets go back in, we shouldn’t leave Lulu alone too often when we don’t have to.”

Lulu had finished her meal by the time they re-entered, and Lance was pretty sure she had stolen a couple of bites from the plate with Lance and Keith’s meal on it. “All filled up?” Lance asked, smile splitting his face. Lulu signed yes. “Alright then, lets figure out where you’re going to sleep tonight. You do sleep, right?”

 

Lance came up with plans. That’s what he did pretty much all the time. Sometimes they were just fun plans, like, what to do in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse. Lance would rule that day. Now, he would admit, sometimes his plans didn’t work, but each member of the Voltron team had to admit at least one time where one of his plans was good.

Right now, Lance was coming up with plan after plan, all about Lulu. First, they created a little pillow fort out of things they found around the castle for Lulu to sleep in. It was set up right by Keith’s bed, as it seemed having Keith in eyesight was important for Lulu. Done. Problem solved. 

Next was finding something for Lulu to do while Keith and Lance were off training, because if he knew anything, having kids sitting and bored cramped up in a room for several hours with nothing to do led to disaster. This problem was at least temporarily solved while Lance was downloading the ships database onto a tablet-like device. Lulu, curious about the symbols, looked over his shoulder with wonder. Eventually, they found they could translate it into a language that Lulu could understand, and they seemed eager to read. Good. Done. Problem temporarily solved. 

This also solved a secondary problem, the problem of their strained communication with Lulu. They figured out Lulu could write in this strange text that looked to Lance a lot like scratches, and the computer could translate it into English (how the computer knew English, Lance didn’t question.)

Then there was playing with Lulu. Or rather, getting KEITH to play with Lulu. While it was plenty clear to Lance that Keith had attached himself as Lulu Protection Squad Founder and President, getting him to open up and humiliate himself to play childish games was a task in and of itself. 

“Okay, lets try another hand game, it’s called slide.” Lance said, sitting across from Lulu. Keith sat on the bed, head buried in the tablet with alien knowledge on it. “We’ll take it slow at first, but eventually we’ll pick up speed, all right? Copy what my hands do.” He started slowly clapping his hands and getting Lulu to mirror him. It took a few tries, but Lulu seemed to be a quick learner. The sad part of Lance wondered if they had to be, coming where they came from. “Well done! Keith, you want to try?”

Keith raised an eyebrow at him. “You can’t be serious.” 

Lance squinted at him. “Lulu, could you give me a hand here?” Lulu held out a webbed hand to him. It took him a second to understand the joke. “Well aren’t you a sassy little thing? Come on, you know what I meant, just like we practiced. Aaand go!” They both turned to Keith giving the best puppy dog expressions they could. Lance stuck his lip out a bit. 

Keith sighed and put his tablet down. “I’m doing this for Lulu, not you.” He said, sitting down and taking Lance’s spot. 

Lance sat up on the bed. “Alright, teach him how it’s done, Lulu!” 

Keith focused on the task at hand like it was one of their training drills. It was actually funny to watch his face screwed up in concentration, learning the steps that Lance had taught Lulu. Part of the issue was that Lulu, in an endearing and adorable way, did not remember all of the steps well enough to teach Keith, leading the two of them to occasionally randomly clap their hands at the wrong time and have to start over. Lulu found this hilarious. Keith found this frustrating. “What exactly is the POINT of this?” He asked Lance.

“The point is to have FUN sourpuss.” Lance leaned back on Keith’s bed, watching them. Keith got the steps wrong again. “Wow, you are bad at this. Lulu is kicking your butt.”

Keith glared at him. “You can’t win at something that’s just for fun.”

“Apparently you can,” Lance said, “Lulu, high five, like we practiced, come on.” He held up his hand and Lulu clapped it. “Good job. Haha, Keith you lost to a kid.”

Keith rolled his eyes and Lulu gurgled at him. 

The point is, Lance while it looked like Lance was goofing off, he was actually making plans left and right. 

It only made sense that one of his plans slipped out of his notice. 

Lulu apparently needed a lot of napping time, which gave Keith and Lance a well deserved and rare break where they could go eat with the rest of the team. Even then, the two of them were still pouring over the ships database, Keith looking for a place that they could send Lulu, Lance looking over files about the Kilvarians to give them hints on caring for Lulu.

Unfortunately, childcare was apparently not considered necessary as part of the information they traded, nor anything about the Kilvarian growing process. Lance was very curious as to whether or not Lulu’s lack of voice was typical, or if unique to them. From what he could tell, he was leaning on the latter. 

“Uh, Lance?” Hunk asked him. Lance looked up, “You okay there buddy?”

“Yeah,” Lance said, shrugging, “Why?” 

“You’ve been holding up that spoon of goo for the last two minutes.” Lance looked at his hand that was indeed holding a spoon full of goo. 

He ate the bite and put the spoon down. “Ah, whoops. Got distracted.” His friends all exchanged a nervous look. “Is something wrong?”

Hunk and Pidge turned to Shiro, who swallowed nervously. “Well…now that you mention it,” He said, “There is something we’ve been meaning to talk to you two about.”

Lance nudged Keith to pull his attention away from his reading. He blinked, putting the tablet down, and frowned when he realized all the eyes in the room were on him and Lance. Lance shoved more goo in his mouth while he was thinking of it. “Shoot.”

Shiro took a deep sigh. “Are you two dating?”

Lance deeply regretted having put goo in his mouth at that point, because it all came flying out as he spit in surprise. “W-what?” He asked, disbelieving.

Hunk shrugged, “It’s not like you’ve been all that subtle.” He looked between the two of them. “You spend all your time alone together now, you haven’t argued in days…”

“We don’t mean to pry,” Shiro said, “But, for the sake of Voltron, we’d prefer if we could all be open with each other.”

Lance was looking between all of his friends, feeling betrayed. “We’re not—“ he started to say ‘we’re not dating’ but Keith cut him off.

“We’re dating.” Keith said. Everyone turned to him in surprise, no one more than Lance. “We don’t have to hide it, Lance. These are our friends.” He stared Lance down, trying to send him a non-verbal message. If they were ‘dating’ their friends would leave them alone while they were caring for Lulu.

Lance sighed. Unfortunately, he knew Keith couldn’t lie for all that long and he seemed to have just used up his lying for the day. He would have to sell this fictional relationship. “Yup. We’re uh, we’re dating. Sorry we didn’t tell you guys, we just kinda wanted to keep it for ourselves for a while.” Reluctantly, he reached out and held Keith’s hand. 

Shiro took a deep breath and smiled at them, “It’s alright, just…make sure you guys use protection, okay?”

Okay. That was a little much, even for Lance. If he wasn’t blushing before, he was sure his face was deep red by now. He leaned forward and rested his head on the table. “Zarkon, if you can hear me, now would be a great time to attack and swallow me up into the abyss.”

Allura rolled her eyes at him, “That’s not funny,” she said, though she didn’t seem overly upset with him. 

Keith, meanwhile, had just finished his plate and was getting up to leave, “See you later, Lance,” He said, breaking their hand grip and getting up.

“Yeah, bye…sweetie.” Lance said, trying out the moniker. Keith pinched his brow. Good. If Lance was going to suffer this, Keith damn well was too.

Lance finished his own meal quickly, partially to get away from his inquisitive teammates, partially so he could go and give Keith a piece of his mind. Now, not only did they have to pretend they didn’t have a child they were caring for, they also had to pretend they were DATING. Something Lance most assuredly DIDN’T want to do!

Lance thought of all kinds of arguments. What if they met a really hot alien babe that he couldn’t flirt with? What if Allura started coming around to his way of thinking but kept it to herself because he was off the market? What if they had to do something like kiss in front of people to sell the story? The thought made Lance feel weird.

He opened Keith’s door preparing to say all of these things to Keith, but fell short walking in. Keith was cuddled around Lulu, the both of them fast asleep on Lulu’s pillow fort. The sight was adorable enough to make Lance’s heart melt. “You win this round, Keith,” Lance whispered, hoping he didn’t wake them.

Gently, Lance laid a blanket out over top of them. He then flopped down on Keith’s bed. If the rest of the team thought he was having sex with Keith, he may as well take advantage of it and stay here for the night. He fell asleep to the quiet sound of Keith and Lulu’s breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This really isn't supposed to be a fake dating fic. More of a parenting fic with fake dating in it? Ah well.


	3. Sweetheart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Voltron rescues some prisoners, and Lance and Keith have a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for flashback to abuse and a panic attack. I promised in the tags I wouldn't write actual abuse acts, and I still won't, but this is the closest it comes to.

“Keith! You got a Galra ship on your tail!” Shiro shouted through the comms.

Keith knew, he felt the ship as it literally tried to grab ahold of Red’s tail with it’s weird claw-thing. Keith smirked as he twisted said tail around and fired at the ship. It recoiled, and retreated far from the battle.

“Shiro,” Lance called, “A bunch of the ships are retreating. Should we go after them?”

There was a moment’s pause. “No, let them go.” 

“They’ll be back,” Pidge said, “With friends,”

“And we’ll be long gone by the time they do.” Shiro said as he started descending on the base. “Hopefully with the prisoners here in tow. Lance, Hunk, help me on transport duty. Keith and Pidge, you can retreat.”

The blue and yellow lion followed black, but Keith didn’t stick around to watch. This whole battle had been easy, really, and yet it was the most anxious he had ever felt. It was the first battle Voltron had taken on with Lulu on board. He was eager to get back. 

He stripped out of his armor and into normal clothes in record time, making his way back to his room. The tick he opened his door, Lulu ran forward, hugging around his thighs. “Hey!” He said, closing the door behind him, “Hey, it’s alright, were you scared? It’s alright, it’s alright.”

Lulu reached up with their hands, jumping slightly, “Uhh…what’s up?” They flapped their wings at Keith. “You want…” Lulu ran and grabbed their tablet off the bed and wrote quickly. “Oh, you want to be picked up? Uh, alright?”

Keith leaned down and wrapped his arms around their legs, trying to balance Lulu on his hip. Keith was fairly sure Lulu was a good deal heavier than a human child, but luckily, Keith was far stronger than his slim appearance made it seem. Lulu grabbed onto his shirt and seemed satisfied. They started writing on their tablet again and showed it to Keith. On it was written, “What happened?”

“Oh,” Keith said, trying to think how he was going to explain 10,000 years of Galran oppression. “Well, you know about the Galra, right?” Lulu signed yes, “Okay, well, me and Lance and some of our friends have been fighting them. That’s what we do, we go around the universe saving people.”

Lulu started writing again. “Like me?”

“Yes, exactly. Just like you. In fact, Lance is going down to save some people right now.” 

Lulu wrote something, “Is that what the sounds were?”

Keith frowned, trying to think what she meant, “You mean the explosions?” Lulu signed yes. Keith thought back and, yes, the castle had been struck a couple of times in the battle. “Yes, that was the ship taking fire. But don’t worry, it’s heavily defended. And we’re very good at what we do. No Galra is going to come get you.” He sounded more confident than he was. Sure, Voltron was plenty powerful, and the chance of the ship being invaded was slim, but that possibility had been haunting him ever since Lulu came on board more than it ever had. 

Feeling strained from holding Lulu for so long, he went to sit down on the bed, letting her sit on his lap. Lulu was fumbling with their tentacles, as Keith had watched them do when they were nervous. “There’s nothing to be scared of, sweetheart. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Lulu stopped fumbling and started writing. “What does that word mean?” 

Keith thought over his sentence, trying to find the strange word. “Scared?” Two tentacles. No. “Sweetheart?” Yes. “Oh, it’s…it’s a term of endearment on Earth. Its…I don’t know, it’s something people say to people they like, I guess. Did you have any words like that in Kilvarian?” 

Lulu thought for a second, and then wrote down a term. “Strong Tentacle.” 

Keith frowned, reading it. He really hoped that sounded better in Kilvarian. “I think I’m going to stick with sweetheart, if you don’t mind.”

Lulu wrote again. “Why does talking about someone’s hearts mean you like them?”

Keith sighed, feeling underprepared to explain human culture. “Well, uh, humans used to believe that the heart was where we kept emotions. I mean, all it really does is pump blood, but…I don’t know, the heart is considered to be important.” Keith takes Lulu’s hands and puts it on his chest, “See? You can feel it pulsing. It’s supposed to be a reassuring thing for humans.”

Lulu takes Keith’s hands and puts them on her hips. He can feel her own pulse, two hearts beating alternately on either side of her. Keith smiles at her, and he’s not sure, but he thinks she smiles back.

Keith’s door opens and Keith jumps up to stand in between whoever was there and Lulu. Thankfully, it was just Lance. “Grab Lulu, we gotta move!” Lance said. 

Keith scooped Lulu up into his arms in an instant. “What is it? What’s wrong?” His thoughts instantly went to Galra intruders. 

“New plan!” Lance said, “We just brought a bunch of prisoners on board, and we’re gonna be relocating them. If we sneak Lulu in with the rest of them, we don’t have to hide them, and then we can relocate them with everyone else. Brilliant, right?”

Keith frowned, holding onto Lulu a bit tighter. “But…if the others see a Kilvarin, won’t they want to take them back to Kilvaria? What if their family tracks them down from there?”

Lance faltered, “I mean, it’s a whole planet, what’s the chances they’re family will find them among a whole bunch of other refugees.”

“I don’t know,” Keith said, “That’s the problem. We need to think this through.”

“If we think things through too MUCH, we’re going to miss our window.” Lance said, gesturing out the door, “If we move NOW I can sneak them in with the other prisoners I just brought on board.”

“Were there other kids?” Keith asked. 

“Well…uh, no, all the prisoners were adults.” 

“Then forget it.” Keith said, putting Lulu back down on the bed. “We won’t be able to pass them off as having been a prisoner in a place that didn’t have kid prisoners! Just…” Keith sighed, “We’ll figure something else out. But this isn’t it, Lance.”

Lance stared at him, searching for something in Keith’s eyes. “Okay.” Lance sighed, “Okay, then I need to go report to Shiro. I’ll see you later, Lulu.” Lulu waved as Lance left again. 

Keith breathed a sigh of relief. 

 

After putting Lulu down for their nap, Keith went to join everyone caring for the prisoners. Entering the room, he saw Shiro and Allura talking with most of the prisoners in their best diplomat voice. Off to the side, Hunk and Coran were talking with two aliens that looked a bit like fish, and Pidge was working on some little robot that Keith didn’t recognize. Pidge was the first to notice Keith had come in, and waved him over. 

“Hey!” Pidge said, “We missed you at the introductions. Allura and Shiro are trying to find out where we go from here.”

Keith shrugged. “I had some stuff to work out.” 

Pidge nodded, raising an eyebrow, “Well, just as a warning, your usual ‘stuff’ is back to his old ways.” She pointed a wrench over to where Lance was standing, leaning up against a wall and laughing next to a reptilian alien woman. 

Keith felt anger rise in him. What was he doing, blowing their cover? And if Pidge interpreted his anger as jealousy, well…that just proved how committed to the lie he was. It was for Lulu, after all. He marched towards Lance, a strained and aggravated smile on his face. “Hello, DEAR.” He said, putting a hand on Lance’s shoulder. Lance winced at the grip, “What are you up to?”

Lance glared at him. “Ezzira, this is my boyfriend Keith,” He said. She didn’t seem fazed by that fact, which confused Keith, “Keith, Ezzira here used to work with children from a number of different species in the region. Isn’t that right, Ezzira?” 

Ezzira nodded, “I was a teacher on a transport vessel. That is where I was captured by the Galra.”

Keith’s eyebrows jumped up, realizing the significance, “Did you ever work with any Kilvarin’s?” 

Ezzira laughed, “Is that a customary question for your people upon hearing that someone is a teacher?”

Keith turned to Lance confused. Smiling, Lance said, “I asked the same thing, and she has.”

“I was just telling Lance that Kilvarin children are known to be very forceful children. They’re a very war-like race and often known to play violent games to train them for battle as adults.” Keith blinked. That didn’t sound like his sweet little Lulu at all. “They need a lot of physical exercise, or they slowly start to enter a hibernate-like state.” The naps, Keith thought. One look at Lance and he could tell he was thinking the same thing. 

“Is it…is it typical for young Kilvarains not to speak until they’re older?” Keith asked. 

Ezzira looked confused. “Not typical as far as I’m aware…unless it was a runt hatchling.”

“What’s a runt hatchling?” Lance asked, crossing his arms. 

Ezzira sighs, “Usually smaller, physically deficient children. I’ve never actually met one, the Kilvarin’s tend to keep them under wraps until they grow up to be more capable…or they die.” Keith’s heart went cold. 

Lance had a similar reaction, “Wait, they just kill kids?”

Ezzira shook her head, “No, no. Just, the Kilvarin’s are a race that values strength and battle. A lot of the runt hatchlings can’t live up to it, and they can’t survive in that world.”

/ “You’re not going to survive in the world if you don’t man the hell up.”/

Keith flinched as he heard a voice in his head he thought he had put away.

/ “Gary, he’s just a boy.”/

/ “A boy’s got to learn how to be a man. Now come on, get up Keith. Quit staring at me like that. Don’t you understand me? Ain’t anything getting through that thick skull of yours? Or do I have to MAKE you understand?”/

/ “Gary! Gary don’t!”/ 

/ “QUIET MELINDA! Now what did I say, boy? Can’t you talk? I SAID quit STARING at me!/

Keith felt the air leave his lungs. He was shaking and the room started spinning. He wondered if he was going to faint. As if from far away, he heard a voice. “Keith? Keith!”

He was being moved. He followed the pull from his arms out, out past a doorway and up against a wall. “Keith. Can you hear me?” He knew the voice. It was Lance. Lance was standing in front of him, looking at him with his piercing blue eyes. He was looking for a response. Keith nodded, holding himself, trying to keep himself from shaking. “Hugging, good thing, or bad thing?” Lance asked. 

“Bad,” Keith managed to say. Everything was too much. Lance backed away across the hall, while Keith focused on breathing. Just taking slow breaths. He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the pressure in his head and counted his breaths.

Finally, he came back to himself enough to open his eyes and look up at Lance. He had never seen Lance so worried about anything. He felt a secret jump in his heart to know that he was the one who Lance was worried for. “Are you…” Lance asked, nervous, “Are you okay?”

Keith rubbed his own arms. “Getting there.” He said, continuing to take long slow breaths. He could see Lance balling his hands into fists, practically physically restraining himself from coming over to Keith. Keith twitched a smile at him, trying to prove he was alright. 

He sighed to himself. He knew Lance wouldn’t ask, but he deserved an explanation. And who knew, maybe talking about it would keep it from being all balled up inside? He swallowed, trying to figure out where to start. “I, um,” He said, “I was a small kid. Kinda weird. Well, I’ve always been weird, you know that.” His breathing hitched and he counted it out again, 4 ticks in, 3 ticks out. “I was always the new kid, moved to a bunch of different foster homes, until Shiro found me.” He swallowed, “W-when I was…when I was 10 I moved to a home where um…where they said they could straighten me out. I was…I was already deemed a problem kid, so I…” He counted his breaths again. “I had heard about things like that, but I didn’t know…”

“Keith…” Lance said, and Keith could see he was closer to the verge of crying than he himself was. Keith smiled at that. 

“Like I said, I was luckier than most.” Keith nodded to himself, “Neighbors called child services, and I was out of there within months.”

“Months?” Lance said incredulously, “Months of…of that?”

Keith shrugged. “It wasn’t all bad. Gary…the…the dad…he would leave town on business a bunch, and his wife would let me fix this old motorcycle that they kept in the garage. Gas engine, practically an antique.”

He felt the tear on his cheek before he realized he was crying. He wiped it away quickly, and rubbed his arms. Despite his jacket, he felt cold. “You know, I could actually use that hug if you’re still—“ Lance had his arms tightly wrapped around him before he could finish his sentence. Keith stiffened for a moment, then let himself relax and lay his head on Lance’s shoulder. He could feel Lance’s breath and heartbeat. He smelled so nice. Keith blamed that weird alien moisturizer he used. 

He felt more than heard Lance swallow, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Lance said. 

Keith gave a tiny shrug. “No way you could have. It’s…it’s really not…” He didn’t know what he was going to say. A big deal? That was a little contradicted by his actions at the moment. He let the words die out. 

Lance squeezed him just slightly tighter. “All those times I made fun of you…I shouldn’t have said…I shouldn’t have…”

At that, Keith had to give a small chuckle, “You haven’t traumatized me, Lance. I’m not 10 anymore, and plenty capable of handling myself.” He turned his head so his nose was practically within Lance’s neck. He breathed in his scent, letting it calm him down.

“Still,” Lance’s voice rumbled low in his throat, “You know…you know I’m your friend, right? I’m here for you.”

Keith nodded. “I know.” 

“The…the rest of your team is your friends too. And we all support each other and…” Lance didn’t seem to know what else to say. 

It made Keith chuckle again. He lifted his head so he could face Lance. “I know, Lance. I know.” Lance smiled down at him, and Keith felt his heart beat pick up once again, this time feeling totally different. This time it was warm and almost nice, as he realized his face was inches from Lance’s, looking into his really nice eyes again. He took another controlled breath, looking for something to ease the tension. “I’m not letting them touch Lulu. Just. No one is going to—“

“I know,” Lance said, “Don’t worry, I promised you, didn’t I? We’re not going to let anything bad happen to them.” He smiled his cockiest Lance smile, which made Keith chuckle again, unable to stop himself from smiling.

“No, it’s okay, they’re just making out!” Keith and Lance both jumped and turned at the sound of Pidge’s shout. Pidge was standing halfway out of the door they had just come from, looking to someone inside the room. She turned back to them, “Shiro had me come check on you after you guys ran out earlier. See you later!” She went back inside with a wave. 

Lance slowly pulled his arms away from Keith. “I, uh…I should probably go back in there, I wanted to talk about some last minute things with Ezzira.”

Keith nodded, trying to keep himself from blushing, “Alright…Just don’t flirt with her. Our cover, you know.”

“I won’t!” Lance said, “I’m not responsible if she flirts with me, though, all right? Sometimes my natural good looks sweep the ladies off their feet without me even trying.” 

Keith rolled his eyes, but was still smiling. “I’m going back to the room, in case Lulu’s woken up.”

“Alright,” Lance said, heading for the door. He turned serious again for another tick and said, “I’ll be there soon, okay?”

Keith knew he was trying to be reassuring. The sad part is that it worked. “Alright.” Keith said, and went back to his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I realized up until this chapter I hadn't had pronouns for Pidge yet so I just wanted to clarify, in this Pidge is a trans girl. I tend to switch up using she or they pronouns for Pidge, and it changes from fanfic to fanfic.


	4. Baseball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance has a surprise for Keith and Lulu

“Lance, I don’t like being out in the open like this,” Keith said, darting his eyes around the hallway. Lance had gotten them a cart that Pidge had used for equipment that Lulu could fit inside of without anyone seeing, and had insisted they use it to carry Lulu down with them to a ‘surprise’ he had waiting. Walking through the halls with Lulu put Keith on edge.

“I know, I know, but trust me, it’ll be worth it.” Lance said, checking to make sure the hallway up ahead was clear. Just because they had a cover for Lulu didn’t mean they would rather not run into ANYONE. 

Thankfully, the castle was large, far too large for 7 people, and there were many parts of it that went unexplored by the crew of Voltron. Or, they had been, until Lance had searched around for a place suitable for his mission. And he had. 

Lance opened the door and Keith rolled Lulu’s cart inside, closing the door behind him. “Tada!” Lance said, gesturing towards his handiwork. 

Keith helped Lulu crawl out of the cart before looking around. The room was just a touch smaller than the training room, with high ceilings. There were a series of mats laid out that had clearly been spares from the training room, and scattered around were some type of colorful balls made out of something that might have been rubber, and sticks of various sizes and materials. “Uh…”Keith said, looking around, “What am I supposed to be seeing?”

Lance scoffed at him. “It’s a PLAYROOM. I mean, I think it was meant for storage or something. But here we can run around and have fun all we want.” He grinned widely, picking up one of the balls, practically the size of a beach ball. “I found these at the space station where we dropped off Ezzira and the others. I think they’re used in some alien sport, but hey, balls and sticks, the basis of most Earth sports.” He handed it to Lulu, “Here, try bouncing it around.” 

Lulu grabbed it, and turned back to Keith for approval. Keith nodded at them for encouragement. The ball made a ‘boi-oing’ noise and shot up into the air. It bounced off the ceiling and off the walls, around the room. Lulu looked at Keith and Lance for their reaction. “Well?” Lance asked, “Go get it.” 

With that, Lulu ran off to chase the ball, practically pouncing on it when it went by. They bounced it again, and Lance laughed watching them. “How’d you get this stuff?” Keith asked, “It’s not like we have space money.”

Lance shrugged, “The vendor liked my moisturizer, apparently it’s a unique kinda solution. As expected, as it was made by me.”

Keith blinked. “All this for some moisturizer?”

“ALL my moisturizer,” Lance said. “Some of it’s unique, cause it came from stuff I had with me from Earth.”

Lulu chased the ball passed them again. “I have questions.” Keith said, “One, you had moisturizer on you when you came to save Shiro?”

“I THOUGHT I was sneaking out with Pidge and Hunk for a night of clubbing.” Lance said, “Gotta be prepared.”

Keith shook his head, trying not to think about that too hard. “Second…you gave up all your moisturizer?” 

Lance shrugged. “I was bound to run out anyway.”

Keith raised an eyebrow. Lance was usually very protective of his beauty stuff. “Well, thanks for your sacrifice.” He patted Lance on the shoulder. Lance smirked at him. Keith held his eye contact and he felt that weird jump in his heart again. It had been days since he had told Lance about his past and he had safely convinced himself it was due to his weird panic. It was hard to use that excuse now, as Lance was staring deep into his eyes. 

“Hey! Lulu!” Lance ran forward, and Keith was jerked back to reality. Lance rushed over to Lulu who was attacking the ball with claws that had protruded from their hands. He didn’t even know they had that. “Lulu, no!” Lance said, just before the ball popped in their hands.

Lance sighed and kneeled down by Lulu. “Lulu, why did you pop it?” 

Lulu fumbled with their tentacles. Keith grabbed their tablet and came over to kneel by them, handing it to them. “Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry.”

Lance tilted his head to the side, “Oh, Lulu. I’m not mad. I just. I got you this so you could play with it.” Lance picked up the shards of the ball. 

Lulu wrote again. “At home, we would play by practicing attack drills.” 

Keith and Lance exchanged a look, remembering their conversation with Ezzira. Keith swallowed, trying to think of what to say, but Lance beat him to it. “You don’t have to do that here. This is just for fun, okay? And if you destroy all of these, then you won’t have any to play with, okay?” Lulu signed yes. “Hey, I have an idea,” Lance said, “Why don’t I teach you one of my favorite games, baseball!” Lance jumped up, “Keith, help me set up!” 

They made a small diamond out of the mats around the room. Keith had only played in his school’s shitty baseball diamonds, but this one was a pretty sad excuse even by underfunded public school standards. Then, Lance had Lulu throw one of the smaller balls at him over and over so he could test out the various sticks for bat-quality. This ended up with Lance getting pelted with the balls a lot. 

Finding one he liked, he gave the bat to Lulu and had them stand at bat. Lance was the pitcher, and Keith stood behind Lulu as the catcher. Every time Lulu missed, Lance would always say, “That’s all right, that’s all right, you’ll get the next one.” 

Finally, with a resounding ‘boi-OING’ the ball bounced off the bat and started bouncing off the walls. Lance ran after it, probably a little slower than he normally would. Lulu stared up at Keith, unsure of what to do. “Go on!” Keith said, encouraging them forward. Lulu still looked confused. Keith took their hand and started running along the lines. 

Lance caught the ball finally as Lulu and Keith were halfway to first. They charged towards the base. “Come on, come on!” Keith encouraged them forward. All three dived for the base, landing in a pile, the ball rolling away. Lance and Keith struggled to make sure neither of them landed on Lulu, but in doing so, ended up banging their heads together. They both fell back, Lance clutching his jaw and Keith the bridge of his nose. 

Lulu stood up, gurgling at them both. They jumped up and down. “Good work, Lulu,” Keith said, high fiving them from the ground. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Lance said, “I’ll get you next time.” He patted his lip and pulled his hand away, “Am I bleeding?” He asked. Keith leaned over and looked. Oh god, his lips looked soft and pink. There was that stupid jolt again. Oh no, he was staring at his lips too long!

“No, you’re good.” Keith said, getting up and turning away. He hoped Lance hadn’t seen his blush. “So, what happens now?”

“Now you’re at bat, mullet boy,” Lance said, chasing after the ball that had fallen away. “You got a runner on first so, good luck.” 

“Luck,” Keith said, picking up the bat, “Has nothing to do with it. Lulu, WHEN I hit this out of the ballpark, make sure to run around the lines, okay?” Lulu signed yes.

“Ohhh ho ho,” Lance said, “Those are some fighting words. Remember, Lulu, when he DOESN’T hit, we point and laugh at him.” Lulu seemed confused by that, but Keith just rolled his eyes and got into proper batting stance. 

The two stood up against one another. Keith could feel the adrenaline rushing through him as he did every time the two of them competed, except now he had extra incentive, trying to take vengeance for the weird feelings he’d been getting. 

Lance wound up his pitch. This was nothing like his pitches for Lulu, this was meant to fly past him. But he had another thing coming. Keith swung with all his might and hit the ball to the back wall. He dropped the bat and started running as Lance once again chased after the ball. “Go! Go!” He ushered Lulu forward. They ran to second much faster this time, having caught on to what they were doing. Keith made it to second before Lance finally picked up the ball, but Keith’s adrenaline was firing up too much. He kept running to third, and then passed it and started for home. 

Lance miscalculated his speed and blindsided him, sending both of them tumbling to the ground. They rolled for a moment, Lance ending up on top of Keith, staring down at him. It was as though the world froze looking at one another. The proud grin dripped off of Lance’s face, and Keith could feel his breath hot on his skin. He could count Lance’s long, dark eyelashes. It clicked right then and there that the weird jumping feeling was definitely a desire to kiss him. And it was going to happen, Lance was leaning down and he was ready to meet him and—

“Boop!” Lance said, dropping the ball onto Keith’s face. Keith blinked confused. “You’re out, mullet.” Lance pulled away and stood up, looking proud, as Keith tried to re-focus. “Looking good, Lulu!” Lance said. Keith looked up. Lulu had passed home plate and had kept running to each base around the diamond, over and over like a lap. Lance chuckled to himself and looked down at Keith. Keith couldn’t help it, he smiled too. He wanted to believe it was at Lulu’s adorable misunderstanding of the rules, but even he couldn’t fool himself that much.

After baseball, Lance tried teaching Lulu soccer. It was harder to have 3 players for that, so Keith sat out, watching them. Lulu may not have much understanding for the rules, but they destroyed Lance through sheer determination. It seemed the longer they played, the faster and stronger Lulu was getting. Finally, Lance was sweating buckets and breathing heavily, so Keith stood up, “My turn.” Lance patted him on the shoulder, grateful, and went to go slump in the corner. 

Keith considered himself to be incredibly physically fit. Still, Lulu ran him into the ground, running back and forth, kicking the ball. They had to be told not to use their hands or their tentacles, but beyond that, Keith was utterly schooled. Finally, they had to sub out and switch back with Lance. Lance who was still fighting a stitch in his side and only made it through two goals, both made by Lulu.

Lance fell on the mat next to Keith, whose legs felt like the goo they called food. He made it to leaning up on his elbows. “Lulu, I got a new game for you,” he said, “Run back and forth as many times as you possibly can.” Lulu signed yes and started running. 

Keith fell back on his back. Lance lifted his head only to turn it to Keith. “If we…figured out…how to bottle…up their energy…we could run…the whole ship without…the need of crystals.” Lulu kept pace without breaking a sweat. “Seriously…not even my siblings…had this much energy.”

Keith watched them go, breathing heavily, “It’s gotta be part of being Kilvarin. They’re warriors. Even the kids have more endurance than us.” Keith pulled himself up, and reached for a bottle of water he was more than thankful he’d brought with him. After taking a swig, he tossed it to Lance, who had considerably more trouble getting up. “Plus, Lulu’s been cooped up for a while now. So they’re releasing all their energy at once.”

Lance managed to sit up against the wall and take giant gulp of water. “You know, between Lulu and Allura, I think I’ll be run ragged.”

“Well, rest up now,” Keith said, “We’ve got training in the morning.” Lance groaned and slipped back down to the floor. 

Keith watched him, and couldn’t help remembering his almost-kiss with Lance. He thought for a moment whether he should broach the topic with him, but quickly killed that thought and burned its remains. It was just a stupid crush because he was spending a long time with him recently and it would surely pass in time. He needed to stop freaking out. Stupid Lance. 

“Hey,” Keith said, “I um, I wanted to thank you,” he said. Lance turned up to face him, “for helping me with Lulu. I really couldn’t have done it without you.”

Lance smirked, “Of course, man.” He got up into sitting again, “I mean, I care about Lulu too.”

Keith shrugged, “You’re just…you’re a natural at this. Don’t get me wrong, I’d dive on a bullet for Lulu, but you actually like…you plan things out, and you sacrifice all your time and energy and…and moisturizer.”

Lance snorted. “Don’t forget pretending to date you. There were a lot of people at the space station I passed up for you.” Keith swallowed looking away, and tried to crush the jealousy that ran through him. “Also, don’t sell yourself short,” Lance continued, oblivious to the awkwardness, “Lulu adores you. You were the one who saved them. You’ve made a real connection.”

Keith smiled, watching Lulu. “I think they’re finally slowing down,” Keith said.

Lance didn’t respond, but it didn’t take long before Keith realized why. A moment later, and his head fell on Keith’s shoulder. Keith froze, his stomach going cold. The only thing he heard was a muffled, “you’re comfy,” and then Lance breathed even and quiet.

Lulu paused running to hold their knees. They broke from their path and grabbed their tablet, writing on it and bringing the message over to Keith, “Can I stop now?”

Keith smirked and nodded. Lance gave a small snore. “Come here,” He said. Lulu came and sat between Keith and Lance. Keith steadily moved his arm to wrap around them, trying not to jerk Lance too much. “We’re gonna rest here for just a few more minutes and then we’ll head back to the room, all right?” He said in a low voice.

Lulu gave a tired twitch of their tentacle before nestling into Keith’s chest. He rested his own head on top of Lance’s, and that’s the last thing he remembered before morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got too excited and wrote a second chapter in one day. whoops. 
> 
> Also I have typed the word 'moisturizer' too much for one day. And I have misspelled it each time. It's a weird word. moisturizer. Finally did it without a typo. Yeah.
> 
> I should go to sleep.


	5. Heartbeats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lulu has a new trick they want to show off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit longer and took way longer than I was expecting/hoping. I have a general outline here, but lets face it, this plot is just going wherever the hell it wants.

Lance was aware of three things as he woke up. 1) his neck was KILLING him 2) his stomach was possibly killing him WORSE and 3) someone was giggling. 

He slowly opened his eyes. He was in the playroom. How did he get here? Then again, he didn’t remember going to his own room. There were two figures standing in front of him. He closed his eyes, trying to wake himself up. Opening them again, he looked up into the eyes of Hunk and Pidge, dressed in their armor. “Morning sunshine!” Pidge said, holding a camera up. 

He jerked into a sitting position. Hunk and Pidge were in the playroom. Where was Lulu? He looked around, but couldn’t see anyone else, except for Keith slowly dozing awake beside him and Shiro looking upset in the door frame. He patted Keith on the shoulder, trying to get him to wake up faster, and stood up. “What’s going on?” he asked his friends.

“You’re late for training, is what’s going on.” Shiro said, arms crossed. “Not to mention neither of you were at breakfast this morning OR dinner last night.” Oh, that’s why he was so hungry, Lance thought. But that didn’t explain where Lulu was. 

Keith apparently had the same thought process as he jumped to his feet, suddenly fully awake, and looking around. Lance put a hand on his shoulder and tried to telepathically communicate ‘play it cool.’ These guys hadn’t seemed to have found Lulu wherever they were, so they just had to get rid of them. “Sorry, Shiro,” Lance said, “We um…we were on a date and I guess we fell asleep.”

Hunk looked around at the play equipment, “What kind of dates are you guys having.” 

Lance tried to play this off with a smile and wink, “Wouldn’t you like to know?” He hoped they wouldn’t ask beyond that, because he really had no idea how to play this off, even if he WASN’T panicking about a lost child. 

“Hunk, Pidge,” Shiro said, and jerked his thumb out the door. The two of them walked out. Lance could feel the panic radiating off of Keith, as Shiro approached them. “Listen, I’m happy that you two are together. But Voltron comes first, before ANY personal attachments. We have the fate of the universe on out shoulders, and if you two can’t handle that, I’m going to have to forbid you seeing each other.”

Lance was offended. Sure, he wasn’t actually dating Keith, but who the hell was Shiro to tell him who he could and couldn’t see? “That’s not fair!” Lance said, prepared to argue.

Keith elbowed him in the gut to make him stop talking. “We’re sorry about training,” Keith said, “It won’t happen again.”

“Make sure it doesn’t.” Shiro uncrossed his arms and sighed, his leadership persona falling away. “Now come on. Both of you can go get some food and get changed.”

Keith and Lance looked at each other. Neither of them wanted to leave, they wanted to go find Lulu. At their hesitance, Shiro looked like he wanted to lecture more, so they followed him out the door. “What do we do?” Keith whispered to Lance.

“I’m thinking,” he whispered back, his mind running a mile a minute on bad sleep and no food. “Um, hey guys, I just realized, I left…some stuff, back in the other room. I’ll catch up in a minute.”

Keith stared at him incredulously and he could hear him wanting to yell, ‘that’s your plan?!’ but Lance was backing up from the group and no one was stopping him. “Um, here, I’ll help you look,” Keith said, trying to follow, but Shiro grabbed his shoulder. 

“Oh, no. No, I’m not leaving you two alone with each other until AFTER training is over. Fool me twice.” Shiro pulled Keith along with him. Keith looked back at Lance, concerned. Lance nodded at him, trying to look reassuring. He’d have to find the missing child on his own. 

“Lulu,” He called out into the playroom. “Lulu, where are you? Come out, it’s just me.” 

There was a wooshing sound above his head. What was going on? “Lulu?” He called out, “Is that you?” 

He looked up. Above him in the rafters, he could just make out a bulbous head with two black eyes looking down at him. “Lulu!” Lance said, relieved, “How did you get up from there?” 

Possibly to answer, Lulu jumped from the rafters and Lance all but had a heart attack. He tried to reach out to catch her, but Lulu spread their wings out, gently gliding their way down to Lance. “You can FLY?” Lance asked incredulously, which he knew must sound ridiculous. They had wings, of course they could fly. 

Lulu landed in Lance’s open arms, possibly harder than they meant as Lance was thrown to the ground. Lulu gurgled, sliding off his chest. “That was very smart of you,” Lance said, “Going to hide so you wouldn’t be caught,” He sat up, catching his breath. “Just um, just let me get my heart rate under control, and I can take you back to Keith’s room, all right?”

Lulu reached forward and grabbed at Lance’s chest. He paused, surprised, feeling his heart pound under their webbed hands. “That’s right,” he said, “that’s my heart.” 

Lulu pulled up their tablet and wrote, “Why does it get out of control when you aren’t running?” 

Lance thought for a minute to think of what they meant, “Well, it can also speed up when we experience strong emotions. Like, right now, I was scared you would get hurt. So my heart sped up.”

Lulu wrote again. They were getting faster at writing. “Keith said the heart wasn’t responsible for emotions, humans only thought it was.” 

Lance nodded, “Keith’s right, it doesn’t generate emotions, but it does…it shows them, if that makes sense.”

Lulu wrote, “Are you scared of Keith?” 

Lance frowned, “What? Why would I be scared of Keith?”

Lulu wrote, “Both your hearts speed up when you’re near each other.”

Lance read the words on the tablet, then read it again. His eyes got stuck on the word ‘both,’ and despite himself, he could feel his heart rate picking up once again. “That’s not—“ he tried to say, but instead said, “how do you know that? Could you hear our hearts from across the room?” 

Lulu scrunched up their face, thinking, “It’s more like I can feel the shaking of things easier. Everyone I know can.” Lance sighed. It must be another Kilvarin trick. Lulu kept writing. “So, if you’re not scared of Keith, how do you feel about him?” 

Lance felt his heart speed up yet again. He was oddly more aware of it than he ever had been. Lulu must have noticed, because they started gurgling. He frowned at them. “I feel that you’re not as confused about human heart rates as you seem.” He picked himself off the floor, “Come on, we gotta get you back.” 

Lulu wrote as they walked over to the cart they used to transport them. They tapped Lance’s arm and showed the message to him, “Is Keith your sweetheart?” 

There was Lance’s heartbeat again. Lulu gurgled. “Get in the cart,” Lance instructed them. They finally complied, gurgling the whole way, and Lance carted them down the hall to Keith’s room. 

The truth was Lance had always been a bit attracted to Keith, ever since the Garrison. That wasn’t so unusual, Lance usually found everyone attractive. Heck, he had been attracted to Hunk at one point, though that had turned into close friendship a long time ago. And it was practically impossible not to be attracted to Shiro or Allura. So, an attraction to Keith wasn’t incredibly unusual. 

The difference was that it had been feeling a lot stronger since they had started looking after Lulu. Lance convinced himself that made sense too, they were spending more time together. But there was a small part thinking that more than that, he felt like he had been getting to know a different side of Keith, a more caring and loving side. Once upon a time, Lance would have said Keith was incapable of that, but one look at him taking care of Lulu dashed that concept. Not to mention, he had thought it would be hard faking their relationship, but it somehow felt natural saying things like ‘my boyfriend,’ and ‘we were on a date.’

Lance tried not to overanalyze the word ‘both’ from Lulu’s message. That could really indicate anything. 

Lance dropped Lulu off in Keith’s room and ran off to the dining hall. Keith eagerly turned to the opening door, and Lance was glad Lulu was far enough away they shouldn’t be able to hear his heart. He nodded at Keith, reassuring him. Keith sighed in relief and turned back to everyone else, “Well, I’m full,” he said, “I think I’ll go get changed.” He took his plate and started walking. 

“You’re going to bring your food with you to change?” Hunk asked.

Keith shrugged, “I’ll finish eating on the way. We’re in a hurry, right?” 

Training was painful. Allura was hard on Keith and Lance as they’d been late, which didn’t help them as they were still recovering from playing with Lulu yesterday. Eventually, Shiro took mercy on them and called training over, though Lance could tell he was disappointed in both of them. That hurt, but he knew it hurt Keith more.

Partially to distract himself from the pain, Lance thought up a schedule for playing with Lulu. Keith would take Lulu up to the playroom for what the equivalent of an Altean hour was (Lance always forgot what the conversion was.) Then Lance would come up and relieve him for a while, and they would switch off. That way they could get meals in, see the rest of the team a little more, and keep up their research. Lance had been silently cursing Coran and Allura for days for the fact they didn’t prioritize childcare as part of the information they traded with other species. 

He wrote the plan down and handed it to Keith for approval while they and the team ate a late lunch. Keith looked nervous at first and took the tablet, writing a note at the end, and reminding Lance how Lulu usually wrote. Lance read the message, “what if I screw up playing with them?” Lance smirked to himself, looking at Keith. He looked actually nervous, a look Lance would never have pictured on Keith. 

He tried to think of a message to write back, but nothing was coming to mind. Lance looked around at the rest of the team. None of them were giving the pair any particular notice. Besides, they were supposed to be dating anyway, right? So this wouldn’t seem weird. 

Lance leaned over and placed a kiss on Keith’s cheek. Keith squeaked slightly in surprise, which was adorable, but before he could really react, Lance whispered, “You’ll do fine. They adore you, remember? Just try to have fun.” 

Lance pulled away, and tried not to smile at the red on Keith’s cheeks. That could just be embarrassment, right? Lance wasn’t so sure. Maybe he’d have to talk to Keith about this, once the whole Lulu situation was taken care of. He watched Keith leave, letting his heart rate rise again. He turned to his tablet and started once again filtering through alien information.

The plan fell apart within an hour. 

Lance was resting in the lounge, reading about cultural practices on the Balmera. Hunk certainly trusted Shay, and Hunk was an amazing judge of character, so that was a point in the rock-people’s favor. Lance was wondering if Lulu would like bugs, when Keith burst into the room, wheeling Lulu’s cart, “Lance!” Keith called.

Lance looked around quickly. Hunk and Pidge were working on some type of contraption, while Shiro and Coran were talking about diplomatic techniques. Why the hell would Keith risk bringing Lulu here…unless something were really wrong. One look at Keith’s face as he looked to be on the verge of tears confirmed Lance’s suspicion. He leaped off the couch and followed Keith out the door, hearing Pidge over his shoulder, “Was that one of my carts?”

“What happened?” Lance demanded as they rolled quickly towards the sleeping rooms.

“I don’t know,” Keith said, “We were…they said they wanted to show me how they were flying, and so I watched them, and I told them to be careful, but they wanted to show me more and…and I don’t know, they started falling, and they landed on the mats but—“

“Are they bleeding?” Lance said, “Did they break a bone?” 

Keith shook his head, “I don’t think so. They’re just…tired. I don’t know. I didn’t know what to do, I just—“

Lance patted him on the back as they reached Keith’s room, “It’s okay, it’s okay, just…we’ll figure it out, okay?” 

Lance and Keith worked together to lug Lulu onto the bed. Lulu stirred a little. “Lulu?” Lance asked, touching their domed head, “Lulu, can you hear me? Sweetie?” Lulu’s eyes flickered open. Lance breathed a sigh of relief. That was something. He quickly looked around their head, searching for anything that might have looked off. There was what might have been a bruise on the side of their head. “Keith, do you have any more of those medicine cubes?”

Keith nodded, jumping up and reaching under his bed for the plastic bag Coran had given them way back when. Lance grabbed some of the gel and started rubbing it on the discoloration. With the beauty of alien medicine, the bruise seemed to melt away. Still, Lulu’s eyes drooped. “Lulu?” Lance asked, “What hurts, sweetie?”

Lulu lazily flipped a pair of tentacles. No? Nothing hurt? Then what was wrong? “Keith, their tablet, where’s their tablet?” 

Keith jumped up, “I left it in the playroom. I’ll…I’ll be right back.”

Keith raced out the door, and Lance saw him wipe a tear from his eye. He took a breath, trying to calm himself down, and ended up just stroking Lulu’s heads, using willpower to make them feel better.

Keith rushed back in a minute later, holding out the tablet in a shaking hand. Lance took the tablet and held it in front of Lulu. He beckoned Keith over and they both kneeled beside the bed. Lance wrapped an arm around Keith, trying to calm him down while trying to stay calm himself. “Lulu, I need you to concentrate, sweetie,” He said, “Can you tell me what’s wrong? What are you feeling?” 

Lulu lifted their hand, and it was painful to watch how slow they wrote. “Tired,” was the first word the tablet translated, “second stomach weird.”

They had two stomachs? Lance took a deep breath and looked into their eyes. They didn’t look overly changed from what Lance was used to. He ran a hand through his hair. “Okay…” he said, slowly, “Okay, um, try and get some rest, okay? I need to talk with Keith for a minute. If you start hurting, um,” He looked around the room. Curse Keith for not keeping bells at his bedside. “Just, bang on the wall, okay? We’ll be right back.”

Lulu lazily signed yes. Lance got up, pulling Keith along with him. Keith was reluctant to leave Lulu’s side, but stood up and followed Keith just outside the door. “So?” Keith asked, “What’s wrong with them?”

Lance sighed, “If I had to guess, I’d say a concussion.” 

“If you had to GUESS?” Keith asked. 

Lance shrugged, “It kinda sounds like what happened to my sister during soccer, but she didn’t have a second stomach or wings, so, yeah, it’s a guess.” He crossed his arms, trying to keep his nerves under control.

Keith nodded, taking slow breaths, “So, what do we do?”

Lance bit his lip, “That’s kinda what I wanted to talk to you about. I mean, technically speaking, concussions go away, at least in humans, after some time.”

“But they’re not human,” Keith said, nodding, “and we don’t even know if it IS a concussion.”

“Right,” Lance said, “So…I think we need to tell Coran.”

Keith’s eyes went wide, “Lance…we can’t. If Coran finds out, he’ll want to honor the peace with the Kilvarin’s.”

“I don’t think so,” Lance said, “I mean, if we explain everything, especially after what Ezzira said, maybe they’d understand.”

“Maybe,” Keith said, “maybe isn’t good enough. I’m not risking handing over Lulu for ‘maybe.’”

“Keith, I don’t think we have a CHOICE.” Lance said, trying not to raise his voice, “If Lulu were human, MAYBE I could take care of them long enough for them to get better, but they’re not, and I CAN’T. We’re officially out of our depth here.”

Keith punched the wall in frustration. He took long slow breaths that shook with effort. Lance watched him, trying to figure out how to help him. “I’m sorry,” Keith said, in a low voice, “I knew I would screw up, I knew I would—“

“Hey, hey none of that,” Lance said, pulling him in for a hug, “You didn’t screw up, you did everything right you…sometimes these things just happen.”

“They could have gotten really hurt because of me,” Keith said into Lance’s shirt, “I could have done something, I should have—“

“Look at me,” Lance lifted Keith’s head, “Kids get hurt, it happens. It’s not your fault.” 

He could see Keith’s eyes wet with tears, and it took him a moment to process that he was holding Keith’s face. From here, he could feel Keith’s heartbeat as well as his own, both of them sped up. 

Keith might have been just closing his eyes or slow blinking. Lance would never find out, because at that moment, he heard a voice behind him. “Oh,” Hunk said, “sorry.”

Lance released Keith and backed up, “No worries,” he said to Hunk, trying to quickly put aside what just happened, “What’s up?”

Hunk pointed a thumb over his shoulder, “Alien ship just hailed us, Allura wants us all to be up at the control deck.”

Lance nodded, “Alright, we’ll be there in just a sec.” Hunk nodded and went back the way he came. Lance turned to Keith, “We’ll deal with this, and then we’ll get Coran and tell him. We’ll figure out about the rest of the team later, okay?” 

Keith nodded. He opened up his door to see Lulu fast asleep, but visibly breathing. The two of them walked in silence to the control deck. 

“Are you in distress, Captain?” They heard Allura talking as they walked on deck. Keith froze, and it took a moment for Lance to realize why. 

On the screen was the projection of a large, fully grown Kilvarin. “No, Princess,” they said, “We’re on a search and rescue mission, looking for a lost child.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUN  
> don't you love cliffhangers?
> 
> Anyway, weekend's coming up, and next week I have doctors appointments and surgery (wisdom teeth), so, we'll see what the updating schedule turns into.


	6. A Parent's Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lulu's parent comes looking for them.

Keith was frozen, staring at the Kilvarin Captain. This couldn’t be happening, how could they have known? How could they have found them? “What do we do?” He whispered to Lance.

“I’m thinking, I’m thinking,” Lance said, arms crossed, staring in equal horror.

“Think faster!” Keith knew he was being unfair, but his first instinct was to run, grab Lulu, and take them on Red very far away, which he knew was the wrong plan, so he stopped himself. 

“A lost child?” Allura asked, “Forgive me, Captain, I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but what prompts a Kilvarin warship to leave the planet’s defenses in search of one lost child? Unfortunately, in this war with the Galra, there are many lost children.”

“The child in question is my own,” The Captain said, “They are my only child of my spouse who was killed by the Galra long ago.”

Allura bowed her head. “I’m very sorry for your loss, Captain.” Meanwhile, Keith’s blood ran cold. This was the one, this was Lulu’s family, the one who had hurt them, the one who had made them so scared, the one who--

Lance put an arm on his shoulder. Keith hadn’t even realized how much he let his anger show, his hands balled up into fists, prepared to fight. “I know,” Lance whispered, “but wait. We might be able to find a way out of this.”

“Do you have any children, Princess?” The Captain said.

Allura shook her head, “No, although I know my father went to great lengths to protect me from the Galra.”

“Then you understand,” the Captain said, “That I will do anything to get my child back.”

“Of course,” Allura said, “I don’t know how much help we can be, though. We still have a war to fight.”

The Kilvarin nodded, “The only rumor we have so far is a witness saying they saw my child heading to one of your famous lions. That’s the last sight we have of them.” Keith went stiff. 

Allura frowned, “Did they happen to say which lion?” 

The Kilvarin sighed, “Unfortunately, Kilvarin eyesight does not distinguish colors well. We are still uncertain.”

“Hmm. It’s hard to imagine a child could stow away aboard a lion without their paladins noticing.” Allura looked to Coran for confirmation, and he nodded.

“Still. For a parent’s frame of mind, would you mind if I came aboard your ship and scanned it, in case they did manage to get aboard?”

Keith couldn’t hold in an outburst. “If you care so much for your child, why did they run away?” Lance stepped on his foot to make him shut up.

Suddenly, the Kilvarin’s eyes were turned to him. “I didn’t say they ran away. But children are known to misbehave, occasionally taking things too far. Or are your species’ children purely obedient?” 

Keith physically bit his tongue to keep himself from retorting. Allura frowned at him to keep him quiet. “Certainly, Captain, we can take a short break for a lost child, but we are on our way to a Galra base, so it really must BE short.”

“If you help me find my child, I’ll take down the Galra base for you myself,” the Captain said before cutting off his feed. 

Lance and Keith let out breaths they didn’t know they were holding. They exchanged a look, trying to figure out what they would do. “Allura,” Lance said, “How long do we have before the Kilvarin ship arrives?” 

“Looks like about 30 of your ‘minutes’,” Allura said, trying to get ahold of Earth time measurements as Humans outnumbered Alteans on the ship 5 to 2. She frowned, looking at their faces. “I thought that would make you both happy, We have nothing to do until then, and you two can have some of that ‘free time’ you’re always begging me for.” 

Lance nodded, and Keith could practically see the wheels in his head whirring at full speed. “Mmhmm, mmhmm. Thank goodness. Keith and I are going to take advantage of it RIGHT now,” he said, grabbing onto Keith’s wrist and pulling him into the hallway, ignoring Hunk’s “TMI, dude.”

“Okay…” Lance said, pacing back and forth in the hallway, “Okay, we have half an hour. What do we do?”

“You’re the plan guy.” Keith said, “I just want to take Lulu in Red and get out of here.”

Lance nodded, thinking, “Yes…yes, that could work, then we could avoid the scanners…Ah, but if they’re close enough to communicate, then they’re close enough to scan, they’ll see if something leaves.” He kept pacing, faster, “We could tell the rest of the team, except, they’re going to want a lot of explanations and a half hour is just not enough time to answer questions AND hide Lulu…”

“Lance,”

“So we have to find a place to keep them, there’s tons of nooks and crannies on board…except they’ll be using SCANNERS, which we don’t know how they’ll work, so we don’t know how to avoid them.”

“Lance…”

“Maybe we can do something that could hide their lifesigns, disguise them as human somehow, and I have no idea how that would work, but—“

“Lance!” Keith grabbed Lance by the shoulders, “It’s alright. Just calm down, you’re not going to think of a plan while your like this.”

“Oh, calm down, sure,” Lance said, “I’ll just flip my calm switch and forget about the impending Kilvarin ship and…what are you doing?” 

Keith reached up and massaged the back of Lance’s head, “When you have anxiety, you learn tricks. Now, take slow breaths, 4 ticks in, 3 out.”

Lance closes his eyes, and Keith concentrates on not kissing him. “How long is a tick again? Is it double a second or—“

“Just…breath in sync with me.” Keith slowly inhaled, and listened to Lance mimicking him. 

It took 3 of the slow breaths for Lance’s breath to actually be in sync with Keith’s. On the 4th exhale, Lance said, “the med pods.” He blinked his eyes open, “The med pods put people in stasis, I say this as someone who’s been in it twice. It MIGHT disguise the signal.”

Keith nodded. “Alright. Let’s go put Lulu in a med pod.”

Lulu was still asleep when they got to Keith’s room. They woke them gently and put them in the cart, careful not to hit their head. 

Their plan hit a snag when they ran into Coran in the med pod room. “Coran!” Lance said, pushing Keith and the cart back out the door, “Just the person I was looking for! What are you up to?”

Coran raised an eyebrow. “You were looking for me?”

“Eeyup,” Lance said, “You see, I was going to get a snack when I realized I think there’s something wrong with the food tubes. I think you should come check it out.”

Coran blinked, “Alright. Let’s go. What seems to be the issue?” 

Lance put an arm around Coran’s shoulders and led him away from the door Keith and Lulu were behind. “Well, I turned it on, and instead of green goo it was kind of grey-ish. I was thinking maybe something was flaking off the inner tubes and getting lodged in the goo.” As he made it to the door, he waved his hand behind Coran’s head, beckoning Keith into the room.

Keith rolled Lulu up to one of the pods, and did a quick double check that he was really alone before summoning one of them. It occurred to him that this was the same pod Lance had once been in. Putting that terrifying memory aside, he helped Lulu out of their pod. 

Lulu was clutching their tablet with a message written on it that they seemed to have written a while ago, waiting for an opportunity to show it, “What’s happening?”

Keith bit his lip, wondering if he should tell the truth. “Um, it’s…it’s nothing to be concerned about.”

He tried to pull Lulu towards the med pod, but they didn’t budge, flapping two tentacles to say ‘no,’ and wrote on the tablet. Their writing was still sluggish from their possible concussion, but they showed the message, “You’re lying.” As if to prove it, Lulu jammed a hand on Keith’s chest, feeling his sped up heart rate. 

Keith took a deep breath and kneeled beside Lulu. “Your parent was come looking for you.” Lulu’s eyes went wide and he could see the panic seeping in, “I promise, we will NOT let them take you back, alright? Being in this should hide you until they leave, and Lance and I will cover for you.” Lulu fumbled their tentacles, “You’re going to be safe, Lulu. I promise.” He was thrown back when Lulu reached out and hugged him. He hugged them back tightly, fighting the tears that were springing to his eyes. “Come on, in you go.”

Lulu let go and stepped into the med pod. Keith activated it, watching Lulu freeze. He took a deep breath and lowered the pod into the ground. He pushed the cart to the far end of the room, and sat on top of the med pod. There was no way he was leaving this room until Lulu’s parent left.

Lance arrived a few minutes later and sat beside him. “Kilvarin ship just pulled up. Allura’s greeting them now.” He took a deep breath, and Keith could hear him inhale for exactly 4 tics, and exhale for 3. Maybe it was the adrenaline running through Keith’s system, but he reached out and grabbed Lance’s hand, squeezing it in an attempt to calm himself. 

Lance looked over to him, then turned his hand within Keith’s, intertwining their fingers. “Hey, um,” Lance said, “I know we’re kinda facing a huge impending threat and all, but uh…after this, I um…I wanna talk to you…about something…” 

Keith bit his lip, not wanting to think about what that could be, either to get his hopes up or to be worried. He nodded, closing his eyes. 

Sooner than he would have liked, he heard footsteps. A group of 4 Kilvarin’s, including the Captain from the call, walked in with Allura and Coran at the front. “Ah, Paladins,” Allura said. Keith and Lance stood up, still holding hands. “This is Captain Klorik of the Kilvarin warship Hingrastif. Captain, this is our Red and Blue Paladins, Keith and Lance.”

Keith squeezed Lance’s hand to try and keep any of his anger from showing. He nodded his head respectfully at the Captain, while Lance was able to make the more convincing lie of “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Captain Klorik nodded at Lance. Keith couldn’t help they stared at him longer than necessary. The other Kilvarin’s walked around the room, scanning the walls, the pillars, and floor. One of them came up to scan the med pods, walking right up to Keith and Lance. “Do you mind?” they asked.

It took Keith a moment to realize what they meant. Slowly, Lance pulled Keith away so the Kilvarin could scan the floor beneath them. Lance let go of Keith’s hand, and Keith saw him reach for his bayard. Keith did the same.

The Kilvarin officer scanned the circle indicating the med pod. Keith held his breath. The scanner blinked green, and the Kilvarin moved on. Keith let himself breath. Lulu had gone undetected.

Of course, he then jumped again as he realized Captain Klorik was standing directly behind him. He turned quickly and tapped Lance on the shoulder. They both faced them and tried to keep themselves under control. “You are the blue paladin?” Klorik said, looking at Keith.

Keith blinked, his only answer to shake his head. Lance cleared his throat, “Um, I’m blue. He’s red.”

The Captain turned to Lance. “Ah. I see. Then I have some questions for you.”

Keith, within his jacket, clutched his bayard tighter. Lance swallowed. “Okay. Shoot.”

“Why were you asking a Nesgillian teacher about runt-hatchling children?” The Kilvarin stared him down, and Keith had to admire how Lance didn’t seem to flinch. Keith’s fight or flight instincts were running wild.

Captain Klorik’s tentacles twitched. Lance stared him straight in the eyes, “I’ve been studying more about alien cultures. Being a Paladin involves a lot of negotiating, and my leader has been telling me to be more sensitive. We had just met the Kilvarins, and Ezzira was a teacher. It seemed obvious.”

Keith was actually impressed. He wondered if he should be worried at how good Lance was at lying. Probably. Captain Klorik stared him down. “Interesting,” they said, “Paladin, are you aware why Kilvarin’s don’t lie?”

Uh-oh. That didn’t sound good. “No, I can’t say I do,” Lance said.

“It’s because while we are not adept at seeing the color spectrum, we can easily detect vibrations. Most organisms have a biological response when they lie, and we can feel it.” Klorik stepped forward. Lance held his ground.

“Well,” Lance said, “Humans aren’t one of those organisms. We don’t—“

“That’s a lie.” Klorik said. “ Jinquh! Open these medical pods!”

Several things happened at once. Allura, sensing trouble, stepped forward, trying to get between Klorik and Lance. One of the Kilvarin officers stepped forward and began opening pods. Lance backed up to stand on Lulu’s pod, “Now wait just a minute, this is highly sensitive Altean equipment, thousands of years old, you can’t just—“

But possibly the most striking thing to happen at that time was Keith finally forgetting about any cool he may have had, summoning his bayard and pointing it at Klorik’s neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, uh, I don't know how to put this....so I know you guys have been waiting for days and uh, I know this chapter ends on a cliffhanger too, but.....
> 
> Well, I'm having dental surgery in the morning. I have no idea when I'll be able to update. I'm sure I will eventually. I love you all, and your comments inspire me to keep going.


	7. Property

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith finally tell the rest of the crew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Turns out a good way of ignoring dental surgery pain is thinking about and writing gay fanfic. Who knew?  
> If this chapter is weird I'm blaming the pain medication. But I'm feeling pretty okay, so, we're gonna just pretend that it's all good.

“PALADIN!” Allura shouted in her most princess-y voice as she stepped in front of Keith’s raised bayard. “What could you POSSIBLY think you are doing?” 

Keith didn’t know how to answer her, so he looked past her to the 8-foot captain. He tried to figure out if he had to, could he get past her and attack. He hadn’t seen Allura fight much, and wasn’t sure how fast her reflexes were, but Klorik made a large target. “I believe,” Captain Klorik said, “You have a pair of child kidnappers as your paladins.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Allura said, “The Paladins of Voltron are people of the highest caliber and moral righteousness within the universe and—“

Lance yelped. In all the confusion, Klorik’s officer Jinquh had moved forward close enough to summon the pod Lance was standing on. He instinctually stepped off the pod as it raised up out of the ground, Lulu floating inside. 

The room was silent as Allura processed the sight of a Kilvarin child. “You foolish, unprofessional, disgraceful, cretinous, fool-hardy—“

“You used ‘fool’ twice,” Lance muttered just loud enough for Allura to hear, and Keith could have sworn her mouth disappeared in a thin line of anger.

She inhaled sharply and Keith knew she was about to explode at Lance for that, “LANCE—“

“Allura,” Keith interrupted, “I need you to trust us that we did the right thing.” Allura turned her wrathful eyes on Keith, but he kept eye contact. Slowly, he lowered his bayard. “You know us, Allura,” Keith said, “Please trust us. We did the right thing.”

She stared at him for another moment, trying to judge him and glare him into submission at the same time. Finally, she turned on him to face Klorik. “You have to know, Captain, that up until this moment I had no knowledge of this incident.”

“I gathered that.” Klorik said, eyeing Keith. 

“You must also know that the alliance between the Kilvarin’s and Voltron is of absolute importance to us and your warships are invaluable in our war against the Galran Empire.” Allura said, keeping her voice even.

Klorik finally looked away from Keith to look down at Allura. “Of course. And Voltron’s assistance with liberating our system from the Galra is equally invaluable. Because of that, I am talking to you still and not calling the Kilvarin fleet to both forcefully seize my property and arrest both of these Paladins here, which is, you should know my first instinct and is most likely what would happen if any other Kilvarin Captain were standing in front of you currently.” Keith bristled. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lance edging himself between Lulu and Jinquh, but he didn’t move his own eyes from Klorik. “Luckily for you, Princess, I am more diplomatic than my peers. So I will simply take my child and consider this whole ordeal finished. Though I recommend not seeking me out for any personal favors.”

Allura clenched her jaw. “I…I thank you for your diplomacy, Captain.” She said, “Give me…give me 26 quiliks to get this situation figured out here. Please, return to your ship, we will not move from our position until you and I speak again.” She looked over her shoulder at Lulu. “I personally will assure you that your child will be kept in the best care.” 

Klorik bristled their tentacles. “You have 13 quiliks.” Allura nodded. She turned towards Lance and beckoned him closer, away from Lulu’s pod. Reluctantly, he complied. Klorik turned on their heel and headed out the door, their officers following them. 

Allura let her diplomatic demeanor drop as Klorik left and turned to Coran, “Coran, gather the Paladins and bring them here. We have a lot to talk about.”

Coran nodded slowly, eyeing Keith and Lance before he left. Allura pushed past Keith and Lance to stand in front of the med pod. “So how long is 13 quiliks?” Lance asked. Allura frowned over to him, “About one of your hours.” She then faced Lulu and opened the doors. She kneeled down as Lulu stumbled out, and held them. Lulu slowly blinked their eyes open, frowning at the stranger in front of them. Smiling kindly at them, Allura said “Hello. My name is Princess Allura of Altea. What’s your name?” 

“Uh,” Lance piped up, “They’re mute. We call them Lulu.” 

Allura inhaled sharply, “Thank you for the information, Paladin, but if you speak up again when not spoken to, I will make sure you live just long enough to regret it.” 

Lance’s jaw made an audible clack as he snapped it shut. Allura turned back to Lulu, her eyes soft. Lulu meanwhile was looking up questioningly at Keith. “It’s okay,” Keith said, “This is one of our friends.”

Lulu signed for yes, which Keith interpreted to mean ‘okay.’ They then held their hand out to Keith. Keith jumped at the realization and pulled out Lulu’s tablet from his jacket pocket and handed it to them. They wrote a question and held it up to Allura. From where Keith was, he couldn’t read it. “Captain Klorik, you mean?” Allura asked, “They’re gone for now, but they’ll return.” Lulu fumbled their tentacles, nervous. “Do you…not want to return to your parent?” Lulu wrote a message for Allura, and Keith had to guess that Lulu said they didn’t want to. Allura frowned, and then looked back at Keith and Lance, no longer angry, but very confused.

At that moment, the other paladins and Coran entered the room. “Hey!” Pidge said, “The kid really was here?” Allura apparently couldn’t hold in her anger forever as Pidge immediately shut down when she saw her face. The three paladins exchanged a look, noting the tense atmosphere. 

Allura stood up, her hand on Lulu’s back. “It’s a bit more complicated than that. Captain Klorik is accusing us of child kidnapping.” Pidge and Hunk frowned while Shiro’s eyebrows shot up into his hair. “Keith, Lance, would you like to explain WHY we’re being accused?”

Lance looked down at his feet. Keith swallowed, “That would be because I kidnapped their child.” 

He could only look into Shiro’s eyes for a brief moment before turning away. That initial shock and disappointment was all Keith could handle. He hated disappointing Shiro. There was a long pause before Shiro said, not accusing but very stern, “Why.”

“Keith did what he had to,” Lance said, “He thought—he KNEW that Captain Klorbag over there had been beating Lulu. The—the child,” He explained. “Anyway, we knew this whole peace thing with the Kilvarin’s was important and we didn’t want to put you guys in a position where you’d have to choose, which is why we kept them hidden.”

“A position like the one you’ve put us in now?” Shiro asked.

“Shiro,” Hunk said, “You’re not honestly suggesting that Keith should have just LEFT the kid there?” Keith turned to Hunk, who gave him a small encouraging smile. “I mean…we’re here to protect, right? That’s what Keith was doing.”

“I’m…I’m sorry, I’m very confused.” Allura piped up, “What do you mean Klorik was BEATING the child?”

Lulu wrote on their pad, and the group went silent watching them. They showed the message to Allura. “What did they say?” Shiro asks.

“They said…They said they were too weak. Their parent—The Captain—tried to make them strong.” Allura still frowned, looking up at the rest of them for explanation. “What does that mean?”

“A Kilvarin parent’s primary job is to train their young to be warriors,” Lance said. Everyone turned to him, “I’ve been reading and talking to people. Ezzira said that if a child loses their parents or has failed to live up to expectations, they’re seized by the state and trained by the government. It’s a great dishonor for a parent, even more so for a warship Captain, I’d imagine. I think the Captain tried to beat Lulu as a motivator to get better.” 

Allura still shook her head, “I still don’t understand. How could a parent do that to their child?”

“Altean’s don’t have child abuse?” Pidge asked. Allura shook her head, “Well then. Point Altea.”

“If it’s true,” Shiro said, nodding to Keith, “And I do believe you at this point, then we can’t hand the child over.”

Allura nodded slowly to herself. “Alright…” She nodded more fervently. “Alright. Coran. I have to ask, is there anyway we get out of this with our peace agreement in tact?”

Coran frowned, thinking hard and twiddling his mustache, “I don’t know. Captain Klorik seemed quite insistent about retrieving their child. If—I apologize—WHEN we withhold them, I’m quite certain the Captain will make good on their desire to gather the Kilvarin forces to quote ‘seize their property and arrest those two.’” 

Keith tried to look at Lance, but Lance had his thinking face on, and once again, Keith could see the wheels in his head turning. “Lance?” Keith said, “You have an idea?”

“Wait—“ Lance said, looking between Lulu, Coran, Keith, and then at the floor, “Not yet, but I’m getting something…” His gaze settled on Coran, “They said ‘seize their property,’ right? That was the exact wording?”

Coran blinked, “Why yes, I’m quite sure.”

Lance nodded, then stepped forward to kneel before Lulu, “Lulu sweetie, can I borrow your tablet for a minute?” Lulu handed it over and Lance sat on the floor, quickly pressing buttons and scrolling through documents, “Come on, come on…” Finally, he settled on one, and then read it again. “Okay, yes, NOW I have an idea.”

He turned the tablet to face them all, but the writing was far too small. “Well?” Allura asked, “What is it?”

Lance smirked at her, “I’m glad you asked, Princess. You see, I’ve been doing a LOT of research on Kilvarin’s cause of Lulu here. Anyway, before the Galran Empire kinda occupied their territory, the Kilvarin’s were kinda…pirate-ish. Like, that’s not the exact word I’d use, but come on, space pirates, how cool, right?” The others didn’t seem impressed as they waited for Lance to continue. “Anyway, there used to be this big thing about if you recovered a property that was stolen, whether you had rights to it, or the original owner. And the disagreements got BIG man, I mean territory war big. So, they had this kinda ritual established where if a disagreement arose, and they couldn’t get it resolved, the two parties would…well, duel, essentially. Whoever won could claim ownership of the property and there was nothing the loser could do.” 

Keith’s eyes widened. “A duel?” Shiro echoed Keith’s thoughts, “I’m not sure I like the idea of risking one of us in something like that.”

“Well, it’d have to be one of US,” Lance said, pointing between himself and Keith, “Princess kinda established that none of you knew about this, so you can’t claim recovery. We’re already on a LITTLE bit of thin ice here, as we didn’t recover Lulu from someone else, but we can probably claim they were recovered from our battles with the Galra? It’s not TOO far a stretch from the truth, we kinda recovered their whole planet.”

Shiro shook his head, “We’re not going to let either of you duel to the death.”

“Oh, it doesn’t have to be to death,” Lance said, “I mean, there are tons of different versions, to the first blood, to the killing blow without following through, to the pain—“

“I’m not sure I’m familiar with that phrase,” Pidge said.

“Anyway,” Lance says, “Technically Klorik would get to decide which type of duel we do, as we’re the challengers, but hopefully if we made a request…”

“I will insist.” Allura said. Shiro turned his frown to her, ready to argue, but she put up a hand to stop him, “I don’t like it, but I don’t see much in the way of alternatives. It’s really up to you two though.”

Lance and Keith exchanged a look. Keith nodded, “I’d be willing to fight Klorik.” Lance seemed to want to argue for himself, but Keith talked before he could, “I was the one to take Lulu here. They’ve been staying with me. It’s my fight.”

Lance nodded, not liking it, but accepting. He turned back to the tablet, “There is um, there is one more catch I haven’t mentioned.” He bit his lip, “As the challengers, we would kinda have to put up…I’m not sure what the word would be…like, collateral. Something of equal value to what we’re fighting over, for them to keep while the fight happens, so we don’t run off with the property. But if we win, they have to return it.”

“And if I lose?” Keith asked, worried about the answer.

Lance winced, “Well, uh…Klorik gets to decide. Sometimes the challenge-ee returns the item, sometimes not. We’ll see.”

Keith sighed, “Well, I don’t have any kids anyway, so I’m not sure what I’m supposed to use.”

“It doesn’t have to be a child, necessarily,” Lance said, scrolling through the tablet again, “Just a person from your family.”

Keith rolled his eyes, “Well, I don’t have any of those either, so—“

“I’ll be the collateral” Shiro said. Everyone turned to him in shock. “I don’t want anyone else risking their lives. Besides, I’m practically Keith’s adopted brother anyway.”

Keith was torn between a rather ridiculous amount of warming in his heart that Shiro really felt that way about him, and terror at the idea that he could lose Shiro if he lost the battle. “Uh,” Lance piped up, “That’s um, noble, Shiro, but I don’t think they’ll go for it. Orphans are seized by the government, remember? They don’t have adoption, I doubt they’d recognize brothers that weren’t by blood. We could lie, but that apparently goes over poorly.” Lance bit his lip for a second, staring at the tablet. “They, um,” He said, in a softer voice, “They do recognize lovers as family.”

It took a moment for Keith to realize what he was saying. Lance gave him a little shrug and a nervous smile. “Well,” Keith said, “I don’t have any of those either, so that’s out.”

“Wait,” Hunk asked, “What do you mean you don’t have one, you two have been dating for like, over a week and—“ Keith and Lance each looked at their feet, blushing. “Ah. I see. More lies.”

Lance cleared his throat. “Would you, um,” He looked around at his friends, “Would you guys give us a minute alone?”

Shiro nodded, and shuffled out the door, Pidge, Hunk, and Coran following. Allura tried to reach for Lulu’s hand, but Lulu first ran up to Lance and hugged him, taking their tablet, then running to Keith. Keith squeezed them as tight as he dared, swearing once again that he wouldn’t let them be taken. Only then did they let Allura take their hand and lead them out with everyone else.

Lance stood up, his hands in his pockets. “So, um,” He said, “Remember when I said I wanted to talk to you?” 

Keith’s breath caught in his throat. This was everything he wanted at exactly the wrong time, “Don’t do this. Lance—“

“Let me finish,” Lance said, “I kinda wanted to tell you when we weren’t facing our impending doom, but if you look at it one way, we’re always facing our impending doom, so, here goes—“

“Lance no—“

“I like you.” Lance says, stepping forward and trying to make eye contact. Keith feels his eyes on him, but doesn’t dare look into them, knowing he’ll be lost. “I have for…probably for a while, but I didn’t notice. Despite my amazingness, I’m not always the most observant.”

Keith shook his head, trying not to let himself be happy at the news. “Lance…I—“

“I know we were only fake-dating so we could take care of Lulu,” Lance said, “But it started to feel natural and…I want it to be real. And I can’t help wondering…if you feel that way too. So um. Do you?”

Keith clenched his eyes shut. Lance was too close now. Keith shook his head again. “No. No I…I can’t. I’m rejecting you. I won’t be your boyfriend. Not like this. I—“ He dared look up into Lance’s eyes, immediately regretting it. Heartbreak was written all over him, and Keith might have cried. “It doesn’t matter what my feelings are. Or your feelings. I’m not going to let you be collateral. That’s just…it’s a terrible idea.”

“So, you do care,” Lance said, stepping forward yet again. Way, way too close now.

Keith tried to speak, failing twice to find the words. Finally, he said, “I—It’s not that I don’t. I can’t—“ But Lance was cupping his face now and Keith’s words fell away.

With his free hand, Lance placed a hand on Keith’s chest, and he could feel his heart beating against it. “See, Kilvarin’s aren’t the only ones to feel vibrations. And here I thought Lulu was lying about your heart rate going up around me.”

“Lance,” Keith said, trying to beg with the word, “I—I do like you, but I—“

That was all Lance needed to hear before swooping in for a kiss. Keith squeaked in surprise, but couldn’t help melting against his lips. He wanted to drink Lance in, hold him, right there forever. Lance seemed to agree as he wrapped his arm around Keith’s back, pulling him closer and keeping him there.

But Keith knew it couldn’t last. He tilted his head down until their lips broke apart, and Lance reluctantly released him, though they still stood close. “Lance…” Keith said, voice barely above a whisper, “All the people I care about, and I mean really care about, are on this ship. I’m so close to losing Lulu forever. I can’t…I can’t risk losing you too.”

Lance reached up, putting a finger on Keith’s chin. Lightly, he tilted Keith’s head back up, kissing him again, this time shorter and lighter than the first. When he pulled back, he waited for Keith to open his eyes before speaking, “Then you’re just going to have to kick their ass, babe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10 points to those who got the Princess Bride reference.  
> Also, IDK if you can tell, but we're coming up to the climax pretty soon. So like. Definitely 2 more chapters, then after that, IDK.


	8. To the Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith fights for Lulu (and Lance)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As soon as I started this chapter I remembered I don't write fight scenes often. So...I hope you like it!

“So,” Hunk asked, desperately trying to ease the tension as they watched the Kilvarin’s negotiate with Allura, “Did you guys name the kid Lulu?” 

“Yeah,” Lance said, nodding. “Thought it suited them.”

Hunk nodded. They all stood quiet for a moment, the tension rising again. “It was cause the name rhymed with Cthulu, wasn’t it?”

“What?” Keith said, glaring at his new boyfriend. 

“What?” Lance echoed, “No, that was…not the reason…I…um…” Lance looked out to where Allura was talking to the Kilvarins, silently praying they’d hurry up. Keith kept glaring at him. “Have I mentioned you look great in your armor, babe?”

Keith rolled his eyes, “Stop calling me babe.” 

“Aww,” Lance said, “Are you embarrassed by me?”

“Constantly,” Keith said. 

“Send in the collateral.” Captain Klorik shouted across the room. 

“Oh thank god,” Lance said, “Good luck, babe.” He kissed Keith on the cheek, kneeled down to give Lulu a hug, and then walked over to the Kilvarins. Allura passed him, gripping his shoulder as she made her way back to the paladins.

“So,” Allura said, “They’ve agreed to the duel.” 

Keith watched Lance across the room. As he reached the Kilvarins, the large aliens immediately spun him around and put him in handcuffs. Keith stepped forward, ready to charge them, but Shiro put a hand on his shoulder. Allura looked back, “Oh, yeah,” She said, “They’re also keeping Lance in custody. They’ve declared him a liar and are convinced he’ll try and trick them.”

“I mean, it’s a fair assumption,” Pidge shrugged.

“But,” Allura said, “Klorik has assured me he will not be harmed for the duration of the duel. Which will be held on Klorik’s warship.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Shiro said, “This whole thing is skeevy enough, I’m not crazy about being in unfamiliar territory.” 

Allura sighed, “It was difficult enough just coming to an agreement about what type of duel they would commence, and apparently, Lion Castle doesn’t have the space for it. They apparently have something that can be used for an arena on their ship, which is just big enough. It was either their ship, or we all turn around and head for the closest Kilvarin colony.”

“How much space are we going to need?” Keith asked, “It’s just the two of us fighting, right? And what’s the duel, anyway?”

“The duel is called a Adojsko. Adjosk? I’m not sure how it’s pronounced,” Allura shook her head, “The point is it means ‘to the fall.’”

“To the fall?” Keith asked, “Fall from what?”

Within an hour they stood in the center of the Kilvarin arena. Coran had stayed behind to guard the castle, while the paladins and Allura came to watch Keith’s fight. 

Keith stared across the arena at Klorik. He summoned his bayard and shield, standing in a defensive position. One of Klorik’s officers handed them a spear, with a point on it the size of Keith’s head. “Duelists!” Klorik’s first officer Jinquh called to them, “To the air!”

Keith activated his rockets and hovered, slowly rising into the stadium. Klorik jumped into the air, spreading out his giant wings and flapping them slowly, quickly overpassing Keith’s height. “The goal is to knock your opponent into the ground. First to hit the ground loses.” Jinquh called up. “Ready?” Klorik and Keith pointed their weapons at one another, “ADJOSK!”

Klorik charged Keith in a spin attack. Keith just barely managed to swerve out of the way. He was used to using his rockets in outer space, not in gravity areas. Klorik bashed into the wall behind them. His eyes widened at the literal crater Klorik’s spear made into the wall. It was then that Keith remembered playing baseball and barely keeping up with Lulu, a child Kilvarin who was considered weak for their age.

Klorik yanked the spear out of the metal, perching on the wall. They jumped off, launching themself at Keith once again. This time, Keith stayed still, putting his shield up. Klorik slammed into him, the spear point sparking against Keith’s shield, driving him back until Keith was jammed into the opposite wall. 

Keith ignored the pain, and braced himself, swinging his sword out and slashing through Klorik’s hide armor. Klorik roared in pain, jerking back, and giving Keith just enough room to shoot out of his reach. 

Keith made a mental note to practice 3-d combat with the gladiator. All that damn training and he never thought about fighting in the air? He needed to go on the offensive. Sure Klorik was strong, but brute strength wasn’t the Red Paladin’s strong suit. He moved fast, depending on his instincts, and slashing at Klorik’s wings. If he could slash one of their tendons, Klorik would go down.

Keith dived at Klorik’s shoulders, sword pointed at the base of their wing. Klorik must have sensed him, because without even looking, they flipped in midair, landing a double kick into Keith’s chest. Keith flipped backwards. He looked down and saw his chest plate cracked. Breathing was becoming more difficult. 

Klorik charged from below, and Keith took off, shooting his rockets at maximum and flying away to the very top of the arena. Klorik was gaining on him fast. As he reached the ceiling, he changed angles and cut off his rockets. He dropped like a stone, sword out and passing Klorik. He heard another satisfactory growl of pain, but could feel he only cut membrane, not a tendon. It wasn’t enough. 

Keith and Klorik played a quick game of cat and mouse, Keith dodging Klorik’s attacks, watching them, and looking for an opportunity to strike. He was too slow on one of the strikes, and one of Klorik’s clawed hands swiped his head. His helmet flew off, and he spiraled down to the ground, but managed to level himself off before he hit the floor. He felt blood trickle down his hair. 

He looked around and saw Lulu and his friends to one side of him, Lulu gripping Allura’s dress, Allura with her hand over her mouth, Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk shouting encouragements he couldn’t hear over the ringing in his ears. He looked up to his other side, seeing Lance being held by the Kilvarin’s. He saw the concern in his eyes, his beautiful eyes, but more than that he noticed that Lance wasn’t looking at him, he was looking above. Keith followed his gaze, just in time to dodge out of the way of the spear Klorik had thrown at him. 

He could feel himself slowing down from the headwound. He remembered what Lance had been talking about concussions. He shook his head, trying to clear it, flying up to get some space between himself and the ground. 

He was overfocused. He lost track of Klorik, until he felt a clawed hand wrap around his ankle. In panic, he slashed below him, seeing a long dark green mark appear between Klorik’s eyes. Klorik flinched, but did not let go, instead pulling Keith down to eye level, wrapping his other claw around Keith’s sword arm. Keith flinched, tears coming to his eyes as he heard a crack, his bayard falling useless down to the ground. He tried not to scream out, but he couldn’t hold it in. 

Fighting through the pain, he pointed his free foot at Klorik’s stomach, allowing his rocket boots to burn their way through Klorik’s armor. He saw a spark of fire, and Klorik growled in pain, letting go of Keith’s limbs. He tried to spin away, but one of Klorik’s claws went through Keith’s jetpack.

He felt himself dropping, spinning down to the ground. He tried to use his boots to balance himself out, but with his feet alone all he could do was spin in various directions. He saw the ground coming closer and closer, and put his shield up, mentally prepping to crash land.

But he didn’t. He blinked, and he saw the ground beneath him, but he wasn’t falling towards it. There was a pair of small arms holding him around his chest, just beneath his armpits. He looked up. 

Lulu was holding him, flapping their wings as hard as they could to hold up him and themself. Around them, the crowd was going wild, the Kilvarin’s shouting something Keith couldn’t understand. Far above them, Klorik was hovering steady, face dripping with blood, staring in bewilderment.

Keith thought quickly. He only had a few moments. Looking around, he saw his bayard resting on the ground, sword retracted. It was too small a target, he’d hit the ground if he tried to get it. Closer, there was Klorik’s spear. “Lulu,” He pointed at the spear, and Lulu understood his direction, flying them at the spear. He grabbed ahold of the shaft and tugged, pulling it out of the ground, his bad wrist aching. “Fly me up, high as you can,” He instructed. 

Lulu tapped a single tentacle on Keith’s shoulder, flapping their wings. Keith helped with a boost from his boots. He weighed the spear in his hand. The shaft was made of some type of metal, not wood like he imagined. He shifted it in his hand, holding it just below the point, and letting the flat metal stick extend. 

Lulu got them both to equal height with the Klorik, who was still staring in shock and disbelief. “Higher!” Keith called to Lulu. Lulu obeyed, and Keith held the spear just as he had held a baseball bat barely a few days before hand. Was it only yesterday? 

Taking a breath, he swung the spear down, smacking into Klorik’s head and spine. Klorik’s wings splayed out wide, and he fell slowly. His wings curled in as he turned in mid-air, staring up at Keith. No, not Keith. Staring up at Lulu.

Klorik landed hard on the ground, wings spread out on the ground.

The world slowed. Keith dropped the spear, taking deep breaths. Lulu lowered him to the ground. He landed on his feet, but his legs felt like jello and he started to fall forward. He didn’t fall, though, strong arms caught him, holding him up. He looked up to see Shiro, nodding at him, eyes full of pride. On his other side, Lulu themself landed on the ground, and hugged his waist. He patted their head, just as proud of them as Shiro was of him.

“Cheating!” was the first word Keith was coherent enough to hear. Across the room, the Kilvarin officers were storming towards them, Lance waddling behind with his hands tied behind his back. “That was cheating! No one is supposed to interfere with a duel!”

“It wasn’t cheating!” Lance yelled back to Jinquh, “Use of the property being disputed in the duel itself has precedent going back to the sword of Kaasek. Considering Lulu IS the property being disputed, Keith was perfectly in his rights to—“

“This whole thing is preposterous!” Jinquh said, “People can’t be property, we aren’t the Galrans, this is—“

“Jinquh!” Klorik yelled from their place on the ground, silencing their officers. They pushed themself onto their hands and knees, their wings hanging limply on their back. “Shut up.” 

Their officers rushed to Klorik’s side, helping them stand. Once they made it to their feet, they pushed the officers away, brushing their concern off. They stumbled towards Keith. Shiro tried to step between them, but Keith tapped his shoulder. Klorik wasn’t going to attack, but Keith only knew that because he had just seen what it looked like when Klorik would attack. 

Feeling more stable, Keith stepped forward himself, bringing Lulu with him. He faced Klorik, his eyes set, but Klorik wasn’t looking at Keith. They were looking at Lulu. “Quilrok,” they said. It took a moment for Keith to realize that must be Lulu’s birth name. “Quilrok, look at me.”

Lulu gripped Keith’s leg tighter. They turned their face into Keith’s waist, refusing to make eye contact. Finally, Klorik looked to Keith. “I’ve…I’ve been trying to make them fly for years. How did you do it?”

Keith stared at them. “I didn’t.”

Klorik kept the gaze for several breaths, both warriors bleeding onto the ground. Keith gently stroked Lulu’s head, comforting them. Klorik gave their child one last look, then turned to Lance. With a swipe of their claws, Lance’s handcuffs fell off. Lance rubbed his wrists, sidestepping Klorik to go stand by Keith and Lulu. Klorik turned their back on the paladins, saying “Go,” over their shoulder, and then retreated out of the arena.

Hunk went to go pick up Keith’s fallen bayard and helmet. The Kilvarin officers followed their Captain. “Is that it?” Pidge asked, “Is it over?”

Keith looked to Lance. Upon realizing he was being stared at, Lance smiled at his boyfriend, reached up and brushed Keith’s hair back behind his ear. Withdrawing his hand, he looked at his fingers covered in blood. Keith looked down to Lulu, still clutching onto him. He patted their head again. “Yeah. It’s over.” He turned, pulling Lulu with him as he started heading back to the pod they had used to get to the warship, “Lets go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Create a Kilvarin word of your own with these easy steps! 1) Keysmash 2) arrange consonants and vowels until it becomes pronounceable 3) imagine a Klingon saying it. If it sounds like it could kinda be Klingon, you have a Kilvarin word.
> 
> Also, you may have noticed this is the 8th of 9 chapters instead of unknown chapters. Yes, there will be one more. I'm pretty sure I know how it'll go in my head, so I'll most likely post it tomorrow morning. 
> 
> I'm seriously so grateful to everyone who has read, left kudos and comments on the story. I really do just re-read the comments over and over while I'm writing new chapters, and sometimes when I just need a little boost. So, thank you. I hope you enjoy this and the remainder of the story.


	9. Goodbye for a While

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew of Voltron comes to a refugee colony, and says goodbye to a friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the last chapter. BUT I got super emotional writing it so its way longer than the others. So....thats something?

“So,” Coran said, “What do you think?”

Keith looked around the room, face screwed up. “I don’t like orphanages,” he said, flatly.

“Oh, come on,” Lance said, looking up from the floor where he had been building a house out of the blocks left out by the children, “This isn’t exactly like the orphanages back on Earth.”

Keith shrugged. “It’s fancier, I guess,” he said, looking around the room.

The search for a new home for Lulu was instantly easier with the help of Coran. Coran located a planet just outside Galra control that was used primarily for refugees from the Galra empire. The colony, named ‘Safe Haven,’ was built over top of ruins of a long-destroyed civilization. The refugees that had made it home were aliens from all over the universe, many of them former prisoners that had been freed or escaped, many from planets that were still occupied by Galran forces, and many of the children who had made it there were orphans. 

“I understand your hesitance, Paladin,” Grahza, the overseer of the orphanage said. He was of the same species as Nyma, which put Keith a little on edge, even though he was purple and not yellow. Keith still had not caught the name of this species. “If you have any questions, perhaps I can ease your mind about this place.”

Keith crossed his arms tight, and stared at him. “What’s the chance of adoption from here?” he asked.

Grahza sighed. “To be honest, not incredibly likely. Here, the focus is not on getting a child adopted, but rather assuring that children are happy and healthy. The orphanage is the crown jewel of Safe Haven. There is a feeling of responsibility among the colony to come and volunteer, to care for all of the children. Many colonists have lost children of their own and feel the need to give back.”

Keith frowned, pacing around the area again. “So, the kids are just expected to live their whole lives here until they age out?”

“This facility is fully equipped with all the educational and recreational activities our children need,” Grahza said. “It’s more of a boarding school than an orphanage. And we supply all the materials children may need to pursue a career, whether here in the colony, or out in space if they so desire.”

Keith tapped his finger on his arm. “All the materials, you say?” Grahza nodded, “Like what?”

“Well,” Grahza said, “To start off, we help many of the older children train for and complete jobs that are suitable for them, starting small with perhaps some paid chores around the living spaces or the school, or even in the community. One thing in a refugee colony like this is that there is always work somewhere.”

“And I suppose cheap child labor is the easiest way to get that done,” Keith said, not caring if he was being rude. Coran glared at him, though.

“As I said before,” Grahza said, “the work is for the older children, to help them earn some extra money and gain some working experience. We make sure they are well paid. Once they…I’m sorry, what was the phrase you used before? ‘Age out?’ Once a child ages out of the orphanage, we continue to provide help, helping them find their own living arrangements and work that they deem suitable for themselves. This colony is built on the ideals of protecting one another. You won’t find anyone left out in the street with no one to help them here.”

Keith bit the inside of his cheek, considering Grahza’s words. “Lulu requires…special accommodations. They’re Kilvarin, first off, and a runt hatchling. They’ll need a great deal of physical exercise, and they can only communicate through writing. Are you sure a facility run mostly by…volunteers…can meet their requirements?”

“Of course,” Grahza said, firmly though not unkindly. “Our children come from all corners of the galaxy, each with their own special needs. If we do not have something a child needs, we work to get it as soon as we can. For physical activity, we have our large yard outside, equipped with many sports, from Arqalian boxing to Zapfino squares. As for communication, our teachers speak and write a combined 362 languages, and will teach these written languages to Lulu. Also, Lulu can take a course in intergalactic sign language, allowing them to communicate easier.”

Keith tapped his foot within his shoe, trying to hide his impatience. “So, the kids live here, learn here, and play here,” Keith said, “Are they even allowed to leave?” 

“Certainly,” Grahza said, “There is a curfew, which is variable depending on the child’s age, and we do require younger children to have trusted chaperones when going out, but they are free to wander the colony. We even arrange special trips, exploring the wilderness, some of the ancient ruins on the planet, and even some nearby star systems.”

“What are the living quarters like?” Keith asked.

“Unless otherwise needed, children are assigned two to a room.”

“Sharing beds?”

“Great Pala, no,” Grahza said, “Unless they need to share a bed with someone. But no, they typically have their own bed, dresser, desk, and bookshelf. Laundry is done once a week, and we have a cafeteria open 26 hours a day, to meet any and all eating requirements.”

Keith grimaced, still turned away from Grahza. Dammit, this place seemed perfect. “I still don’t like how close we are to the Galran Empire here,” he said.

“That issue I can answer,” Coran said, “Shiro, Allura, and myself are currently working with Safe Haven’s government to improve the defense systems here against the Galra. We’re also providing the colony with a communications tower so that they can send us a distress call in case of an invasion, in which case Voltron is a simple wormhole away.”

There was a tap on his shoulder, and he turned to face Lance. “Well?” Lance said, in a quiet voice, “are you finally done looking for things wrong with this place, so you can admit it’s exactly what we’re looking for?”

Keith wanted to deny that. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure WHAT he was looking for in a place for Lulu to stay. He knew Lulu couldn’t stay with him at Lion Castle, but…but he didn’t like the idea of them being outside of where Keith could be there for them. A part of him wanted to storm away from this whole colony, deeming it and everywhere else in the universe unfit to house someone as precious as Lulu, but he knew that was being unfair, especially to Lulu. Still. “Well,” Keith said, looking over Lance’s shoulder, “I’ve found one more thing wrong with this place.”

“Lance?” A familiar voice called. Lance swiveled around and they both watched Ezzira approach, “Oh, Lance it IS you. I heard Voltron had landed, and was hoping to—“

“Stay back.” Lance instructed. Ezzira froze. “You sold us out to the Kilvarins. What the hell are you doing here?”

Ezzira at least had the decency to look ashamed at the ground. “The—the Kilvarin’s intercepted the transport vessel Voltron put us on. They asked all of the freed prisoners about you—about if you were keeping any children on board. I told them I hadn’t seen any children, but they could sense I was keeping something from them and I—I had just been freed from prison, I was scared they were going to capture me again. I told them about our conversation. I’m so sorry, I never meant to put you in danger, after you so valiantly rescued me.”

Grahza, sensing trouble, stepped forward and put a hand on Ezzira’s back. “Ezzira is one of our newest teachers here. She has thrown herself into her work, giving everything she has for the children. She has a great deal of experience with many species and subjects. We’re quickly finding her invaluable.” 

Lance continued to glare at her, but Keith put a hand on his arm. He could understand being afraid of Klorik. Besides, they had been careless in asking so many questions, and it was all over now anyway. Keith sighed and turned instead to Grahza. “Of course, you understand that this isn’t MY decision alone,” Keith said, “I won’t make Lulu stay here if they don’t want to.”

“Naturally,” Grahza said, “Why don’t you bring Lulu down tomorrow? They can attend one day of school, interact with some of the children and teachers. You would be free to supervise, of course. After that, we can consider our options.”

Coran and Lance looked to Keith. Reluctantly, Keith nodded.

 

Coran drove them in a speeder back to the castle. Absentmindedly, Keith rubbed his wrist he had broken in his fight with Klorik. It had been a week since he emerged from the healing pod. Lance reached out and held his hand. “How’re you feeling?”

Keith smiled at him, “I’m fine, Lance. Time and healing pods mend all wounds.” 

Lance smirked, lifting Keith’s hand to his mouth and kissing it. “I know,” He said, “Still. You scared the shit out of me there. For a guy that didn’t care about their kid, Klorik sure as hell didn’t hold back.”

Keith frowned, thinking. “I think they did care.” Lance raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh, don’t get me wrong, they were a horrible parent, and I would fight them again, no questions asked. But…through some weird warped perception, I think they honestly thought they did right up until the end. Up until they saw Lulu flying, that is.” Keith sighed, “When they saw Lulu could do things without needing to be beaten into them…I think they honestly might have regretted things. At the very least, they were so shocked, I managed to get in a lucky blow. Otherwise, I would NOT have won.”

Lance shrugged, “Still. I’d put my money on you and not Klorbag any day of the week.”

Keith snorted and rolled his eyes. “Thank you, Lance. I kind of expected you would.”

Lance rolled his eyes and leaned in to kiss Keith on the lips. Just before he made contact, the speeder jerked, and both paladins fell backwards. “Oops, sorry about that.” Coran said. Lance and Keith weren’t entirely sure it was an accident.

When they reached the ship, Lance grabbed Keith’s hand and walked down to the engineering room with him. Keith smirked. Lance had been greatly enjoying showing his affection now that they were officially dating. Of course, Keith wouldn’t dare admit he was enjoying it too. “Alright, alright, put down the nerd,” they heard Hunk say from the engineering room, “Why don’t you come here and give your Uncle Hunkle a big old hug?”

Keith and Lance entered just in time to see Lulu lifting Hunk over their head. Pidge was lying on the ground, a bunch of her technical equipment (laptops, wires, the works) lying beside them. They would have been concerned, if it weren’t for the fact Hunk seemed to be laughing. “Careful there, sweetie,” Lance said.

Lulu turned to see Keith and Lance walking in. Gently, Lulu put Hunk onto the ground and ran up to them. Keith lifted them off the ground, spinning them around. “Hey, sweetheart.” Keith said, “What’ve you been up to?”

“Well, before the strength contest,” Pidge said, adjusting her glasses and sitting up, “We WERE teaching them some of the ships systems.” 

Keith nodded, “And that’s…fun?” He asked Lulu. They signed for yes Keith smirked and shrugged. “To each their own, I guess.”

Lance helped Hunk stand. “’Uncle Hunkle?’” He asked.

Hunk shrugged, “Well, sure. That’s what my cousin’s kids called me.” Hunk in turn helped Pidge up, “I’m actually a little surprised you didn’t ask for MY help after kidnapping Lulu, Keith,” He said.

Lance took Lulu out of Keith’s arms. “I’m pretty okay with the way things turned out.” He kissed Keith’s cheek. Keith blushed and wandered over to help Pidge and Hunk clean up their technical equipment. “You ready for your first day of school tomorrow, Lulu?” Lulu signed yes, vibrating in excitement within Lance’s arms. “Alright, alright. But you gotta behave really well, okay, because Keith’s freaking out about it harder than when he faced Emperor Zarkon.”

“I am not!” Keith protested. 

Lance rolled his eyes and Lulu wrote a message. Lance read it, “Lulu promises they’ll be really good, Keith.” 

Keith sighed. “I know they will.” He wasn’t worried that Lulu would behave, he already knew Lulu was the best kid in the universe. And after today, he wasn’t too worried about what would become of them here. This place seemed like a good place, and they’d take care of them. But if they left Lulu here…it would be over. That would be the end. He didn’t want this to be the end.

Just a few weeks ago, he had been terrified of the very idea of a kid in his room. He didn’t know how to handle them. But now he was watching Lulu play with Lance and Hunk and Pidge…and he knew this could be the last day it would ever happen. 

The next day, Keith and Lance followed Lulu to classes. They started out shy, but with some kind words from the teachers, and a thumbs up from Lance, Lulu relaxed into gurgles and squeals of joy, playing with the other children, and sitting as respectful as could be in class, absorbing the information like a sponge.

Keith’s heart broke.

Lance was enjoying the lessons almost as much as Lulu, following right along with the teacher, who was drawing pictures of some important signs for simple communication. Some of them were trickier than others, requiring Lance to move one hand fast, replicating a third limb he didn’t have, but he didn’t seem to mind. Or, he didn’t, until Keith couldn’t take it anymore and walked right out of the classroom.

Lance followed him, “Hey,” He said, as Keith leaned against the hallway wall, arms folded in on himself, “what’s going on?” 

Keith shrugged, “I’m just…This is it, isn’t it?” Keith swallowed, “The end?”

Lance paused. Then, Keith couldn’t believe Lance actually laughed. Before he knew it, Keith was being pulled into a tight hug. “Of course it isn’t,” Lance said into his ear. Lance kissed the side of Keith’s head, the top of his head and his lips, and looked into his eyes. “It isn’t the end. It’s just…goodbye for a while, is all. But this place takes refugees, right? Well, we rescue refugees all the time, we’ll be back here. And every time, we’ll come visit, and they’ll tell us how they’re doing and we’ll tell them about the awesome adventures we went on, and…” Lance shrugged. “It’s not the end.”

Keith nodded into Lance’s chest, letting Lance kiss his hair. Lance rocked him back and forth, and he hugged Lance back. Eventually, he felt calm enough he walked back into the classroom with Lance. He managed to smile as Lance tried more of the intergalactic signs, and later laugh as Lulu played with the kids. 

At the end of the day, Lance and Keith brought Lulu back to Lion Castle for the night, each holding one of their hands. “Here, I wanna try something,” Lance said, “I’m gonna count to three, and on three, you jump okay? Keith, follow my lead.” 

Keith raised an eyebrow at him, but he started counting anyway, “One, two, three!” He and Keith pulled on Lulu’s arms as they jumped into the air. Except, they then decided they didn’t want to come back down, flapping their wings and flying in between them. Lance laughed, “Okay, okay, so when I did this with my sister, she didn’t start flying.” Lulu gurgled, showing off. 

Coran had a big meal prepared when the got back, and Lulu chomped it down. “Well,” Coran said, “At least someone appreciates my cooking.” Lulu curled their tentacles in what Keith recognized as a smile.

“So Lulu,” Shiro said, digging into his own meal. Lulu sat up straight, recognizing Shiro as an authority. Keith wondered if he did that when Shiro talked, and Lulu had picked it up from him. “Did you like school?”

Lulu signed yes. Lance nodded at Shiro, confirming what they said. “Good,” Shiro said, “You think you want to go there full time? You’ll be happy there?”

Keith tried not to let his hurt show as Lulu signed an enthusiastic ‘yes.’ Allura chuckled, passing behind them and patting their head. “Well, that settles that, then, yes?” Allura said, “We’ll help you get settled in tomorrow, and then we’ll continue our mission.”

Allura went to go sit down and Lulu tilted their head to the side. Keith watched them write out a message and show it to Lance. “Mission?” the message said.

Lance nodded, “To fight the Galra,” Lance said, “You know that’s what we have to go do, right?” 

Lulu wrote quickly. “You’re not staying with me?”

Keith took a deep breath and shook his head. “No,” He said, voice a little above a whisper, “No, we have to go…and you’ll stay here and…” Keith swallowed his tears back, looking up at Lance, Lance nodded encouragement, “And—and we’ll come back and visit, okay? But…The universe is depending on us to save people.”

“Like me?” They wrote.

Keith nodded, “Like you. But it’s too dangerous for you to stay with us. So, you’ll stay here. Okay?”

Lulu stared at their food for a moment, processing. Then, Lulu pushed back from their chair and hugged Keith around the middle. Surprised, Keith hugged them back. His ribs hurt from Lulu’s strength, but he didn’t complain, and he didn’t let go. He held as tight as he dared, and ignored the pinpricks of tears in the corners of his eyes. 

Lulu reached behind them and pulled Lance into the hug. He chuckled low and patted both Lulu and Keith on the shoulders. The others watched them, and smiled. Before long, Hunk didn’t seem able to hold back, and came up to join the hug too. Next were Allura and Coran. Shiro and Pidge shrugged, hugging the outsides, barely able to reach the small child in the center.

The next morning, they put the castle on lockdown so that all 7 of them could take Lulu down to the orphanage. Grahza and Ezzira came down to meet them. 

Shiro was the first to lean down and hug Lulu, patting them on the head. “You take care of yourself, kid. You’ll do well.” Lulu signed yes.

Next was Allura, “I’m glad you came to us, Lulu,” she said. Lulu gripped onto Allura’s long hair. Allura chuckled. “I’m afraid I can’t give you that, my dear.” Lulu gurgled, giving the hair a final squeeze. 

Coran gave Lulu a box, “Now, I don’t know what kind of food they’ll give you, but I thought I’d give you some extra from your favorite chef.” Coran said the words pointedly at the paladins, “Hopefully, it’ll be a taste of something familiar while you’re getting settled.”

Lulu hugged him and took the box gratefully. Pidge and Hunk came up next. “Hey kid,” Hunk said, “Your fairy godmother Pidge and Uncle Hunkle got some of the tech we were playing with the other day.”

Pidge handed over her case, filled with wires. “Someone at the school should be able to help you work it, but this is advanced Altean tech, one of a kind. Make sure you don’t get it too messed up, it’s a long travel for us to come for maintenance.”

Lulu nodded, and hugged Hunk, then Pidge, picking her up off the ground, “Whoa, careful with the nerd!” Pidge protested. Lulu gurgled and put Pidge down gently.

Keith and Lance were already waiting as Lulu turned to them. They both also had bags Grahza came up and took the boxes Coran, Hunk, and Pidge gave to Lulu, so that Lulu could take the bags for themselves. “We got pillows from your fort,” Keith said, handing them over, trying to keep himself from crying.

“And—and the balls. Your toys,” Lance said, handing over the other bag, “Maybe you could teach some of the other kids how to play baseball, huh?”

Lulu put both bags aside and pulled them both in for a tight hug. Keith could feel them crying on his shoulder, and that’s all it took for him to start crying too. “We’re going to miss you.” Keith said, “We’ll miss you so much.” Lance nodded in agreement and Keith could hear him crying too. 

Lulu let them go and pointed to themself. They crossed their arms in front of them, and then pointed at them both. Lance and Keith exchanged confused stares. “What does that mean, sweetie?” Lance asked, “Is that sign language? What does it mean?”

“Um,” Grahza spoke up, “It’s intergalactic sign language for ‘I love you.’”

Lulu made the sign again. Keith and Lance looked to each other in surprise for a moment, before in sync they both made the sign back to Lulu as well, and hugged them again. “We love you, Lulu,” Keith said, “We love you so much.”

Lance nodded, “We’ll come back.” Lance patted the back of their head, his hands shaking, “We promise. We’ll be back.”

Lulu signed yes, and then backed away. Keith wiped first his tears and then theirs. “It’ll be okay,” Keith said. He handed the bag of pillows to Lulu again. “Be safe. Have fun.”

“You can write us letters,” Lance said, “We won’t be able to get them right away, but, we’d love to read them, and we’ll write to you. Okay?”

Lulu signed yes, and Lance handed them the bag of toys. They took it and walked over to Ezzira and Grahza. They each took their hand, just as Keith and Lance had held their hands earlier and walked them back to the school. 

Shiro and Hunk helped Keith and Lance to their feet. They held each other’s hands and walked back to the ship. 

And like that, they were off. The ship traveled through the stars, just as it had a thousand times before.

Keith found himself wandering the hallways, and stared out through the windows at the passing stars. In the darkness through the glass, it was easy to see Lance’s reflection coming up from behind him. Lance wrapped his arms around Keith, and looked out into the stars with him. “You look deep in thought,” Lance said. Keith made a non-committal noise. “Whatcha thinking about?”

Keith shrugged, “You.”

“Aww, Babe,” Lance said, kissing the side of Keith’s head, “That’s sweet.”

“I was thinking…” Keith said, “About your family.” He felt Lance’s arms stiffen around him. “I was thinking about how…I didn’t really get it. I didn’t really understand. I mean, I knew how hard it was for you, but I didn’t really understand until now. I knew Lulu for a few weeks and I already miss them like crazy. And at least they know where I am and what I’m doing, and I got to say goodbye, and—“ Lance squeezed him. “I’m sorry.”

Lance shook his head. “It’s okay.” Lance took a deep breath, burying his head in Keith’s shoulder. “I’m alright, I just—“

Keith turned, wrapping his arms around Lance in turn. He leaned in and kissed his boyfriend, trying to comfort him as best he could. “It’s harder than I thought, having a family.” 

Lance nodded. “We’re your family.” Lance said, “We’re here for you. I’m here for you.”

Keith nodded too, kissing him again. “Maybe, um,” he said, “maybe once this is all over, we can bring Lulu to Earth. Like, maybe just to visit or something.”

Lance smiled, “That sounds like a great idea,” Keith started laughing. “What?”

“Nothing,” Keith said, “It’s just…I’ve never thought about what happens AFTER the war before.”

Lance kissed him, “Well, you’d best get started then.”

“Paladins!” Allura’s voice came from overhead, “Galran ship incoming! We need Voltron!”

Keith and Lance sighed. “But, in the meantime,” Lance said, “We still have to actually FIGHT the war.” They took each other’s hands and ran down to the chutes, “C’mon, babe.”

“Would you STOP calling me babe?” Keith said, as he started running.

“What would you prefer?” Lance said, “Sweetheart?”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Sure,” then he muttered under his breath, “strong tentacle.”

“What?” Lance asked.

Keith shook his head, smiling to himself, “I’ll explain later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you've enjoyed reading this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I don't think I'm ready to say goodbye to klance fics yet, though I may do a few one-shots before jumping into some longer fics. I might even think of branching out from Klance to write about other members of the voltron crew (I've been meaning to develop a Coran backstory....because I will cry about Coran and no one can stop me.)
> 
> Anyway, if you guys have any ideas of things you'd like to see, or you want to chat with me or follow me for random tumblr shenanigans, my tumblr is dork-empress. Thank you all so much!

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how many chapters this one will be, but I imagine in the 7-10 range.


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